Life, Laughter, and Love
by ah-dorably key-ute
Summary: Lindsay Monroe's work life and personal life are about to crash together. Danny/Lindsay. Flack/OC. Hawkes/OC. Adam/OC.
1. We Can't Even Enjoy It Now

**A/N: Hi everyone! I love reading CSI:NY stories and I thought I'd try one of my own. Just let me know what you all think of it.**

**Summary: Lindsay Monroe's work life and personal life are about to crash together.**

**Dislaimer: CBS owns CSI:NY. I only own what you don't recognize.

* * *

****Panera Bread  
Manhattan, New York  
October 14, 2006  
12:02 PM**

Lindsay Monroe's hazel eyes scanned Panera, searching for the big table. It was the table she and her friends always snagged, no matter how many of them there were. Her eyes locked on the table, smiling when she saw it empty. She speed-walked over and sat down in a chair, waiting for her friends to arrive.

It wasn't long before the second member of the group entered the store. Lindsay watched as the beautiful African American hung up the phone, taking note that her friend was not in the scrubs she usually wore. Finally, the girl spotted Lindsay, grinned, and waved as she walked over to join her.

"Hey Linds," Olivia Bernard, more commonly known as "Liv", greeted. Liv and Lindsay had gone to high school together. In high school they had been only classmates. It was only in college had they become close, being two parts of the four part suite they shared.

Lindsay and Liv were more similar to each other than the other two. They both came from small middle or upper middle class families (Lindsay being an only child and Liv having one sister), were shy at certain times, quiet, nice, and friendly. Both were interested in science, Lindsay being a CSI and Liv being a doctor. Personality wise, they were very similar. Looks wise, not so much. Lindsay had pale skin, light chestnut brown hair, and stood at 5'3, the shortest of the entire group. Liv had beautiful dark skin, straight dark hair, and stood a good three inches taller than Lindsay did.

Before any more greetings could be made between the two, the third member of the group entered and practically ran over to her friends. The endless bundle of energy, otherwise known as Elizabeth "Ellie" Kaplan was famous for the constant smile she wore.

Ellie was the drama queen of the group, fitting since she was the Broadway actress. Growing up, she had always been interested in dance, theater, and musicals. Her wealthy parents, older sister, and younger brother had always encouraged her dream to become a theater major and Ellie had worked hard to get there. Her current role was starring as Maria in West Side Story.

Today, Ellie was dressed casually, leading Lindsay and Liv to believe that she had either just come from rehearsal or she was headed to it. Her blue jeans were fading and a zip up hoodie covered the t-shirt she was wearing. Her butterscotch blonde hair was partially pulled back into a ponytail, with some left hanging over her shoulders.

Eliie grinned again, as she sat down in her seat, next to Liv (who was at the head of the table), and across from Lindsay. Her sweet, southern accent still sometimes came out when she was excited, and this was no exception. "Hey girlies."

"Hey El," Lindsay and Liv spoke at the same time, just as excited as Ellie was. It had been a while since the four girls had met for lunch, all having incredibly busy schedules, and they were still waiting for the last member.

The three girls made small talk for a bit, knowing full well that the last friend would be late. And sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, they heard the door chime and looked over.

Dallas Buchanan was batting her eyelashes at the tall blond man who was holding the door open for her. Her arms were full of bags and despite being dressed simply in yoga pants and a long sleeved white v-neck, she looked as beautiful as ever.

Dallas had always been the pretty, flirty one. In college, she had more 'boyfriends' than the other three put together. They were short relationships, generally called flings because Dallas had an extraordinary fear of commitment. Her fear, however, was completely understandable. Dallas had two older brothers and one younger brother, all four of whom had different fathers. Her older brothers' fathers had never been a part of their life. Dallas' father had been in and out of her life for as long as she could remember.

Unlike the other three girls, who all had fully supportive parents, Dallas had grown up in a bad neighborhood in south Philadelphia, her childhood full of drugs, alcohol, and abuse. It had been the only lifestyle she knew, until Lindsay had taken her home one Christmas.

Dallas had been hugely impressed with what she called 'the huge beautiful house' and had then instantly gone off to flirt with one of Lindsay's cousins. Dallas's mother had always told her daughter that the only thing Dallas had going for her was her looks and Lindsay suspected that Dallas had taken that to heart. She had put herself through college (her college fund being used by both parents for pills and booze) by working at a bar and doing modeling jobs. She had had no clue what she had wanted to do with her life and chose to major in Spanish. However, currently she was doing nothing even Spanish related. Dallas had continued modeling after college and now had jobs coming at her left and right.

The half Italian, beautiful brown eyed, tall, dark brunette sauntered over to the table, not even bothering to say good-bye to the blond man. She threw her pile of bags on the end of the table not being used and sat down next to Ellie.

"I swear to God people are such creeps in this city." Dallas said then began mumbling under her breath in Italian.

"I see Brazil treated you nicely." Lindsay teased, spying her friend's perfect tan.

Dallas grinned. "The guys in Brazil certainly did."

"I can't believe Victoria's Secret just let you go do that." Ellie said. "Don't you have like a contract with them?"

Dallas shrugged. "Good publicity I guess. Lots of people read Sports Illustrated and everyone sees the cover so…" She trailed off.

Ellie laughed. "My brother is so excited that he knows the Swimsuit Edition cover girl. He's been bragging to everyone he knows. No one believes him."

Dallas giggled. "Well at least someone's happy. My brothers are all disappointed with me. They're like 'we can't even enjoy it now'. I was cracking up."

Lindsay joined the conversation. "I'll be laughing when the magazine comes out. It'll be at work, like in the break room, as a joke. Nobody knows my best friend models. I didn't tell them. It'll be funny to see their faces when I do."

Soon that conversation finished and the girls stood, two at a time so as not to lose their table (for Panera was quickly becoming crowded), to get their lunches.

The topic had now switched to Ellie's recently ex-boyfriend. They had broken up while Dallas was away, but the three other girls had opted to wait until Dallas got back to go out for the post-break up drinking night.

"You're the only one who can drink that much and still be relatively functioning." Lindsay said.

* * *

**Panera Bread  
Manhattan, New York  
October 14, 2006  
12:34 PM**

Danny Messer was in a good mood. He, Flack, and Hawkes had wrapped up their case and had decided to grab some lunch before they started on the paperwork. Joining them was lab tech Adam Ross, who had been leaving just as they were.

Or at least he was in a good mood, until he saw the ridiculous amount of people that were at Panera. He told Flack to get him some lunch and went off in search of a table for them.

A grin spread across his face as he saw a familiar head of hair. He began heading over toward her, no longer concerned with finding a table.

"You're the only one who can drink that much and still be relatively functioning." He heard Lindsay say to a dark brunette.

"Hey Montana!" He grinned at her, silently counting the leftover seats at the table. Four seats, a success.

"Hey Messer," Lindsay greeted politely. He was trying to make things not awkward between them, especially after she stood him up last week, and she was glad.

He pulled the chair next to her out, scanning the other girls at the table. All three of them would be considered beautiful, along with Lindsay, and he knew that plenty of other men had been staring at them this afternoon, even if they didn't notice it.

"What are you doing?" Lindsay asked.

"Sittin' down." Danny said. "There's no tables and we need a place to sit."

"We?" Lindsay asked. "We? Who is this _we_ you're referring to?"

Danny shrugged, secretly happy they were back to bickering like they used to. "We. Me, Flack, Hawkes, Adam. You know, _we._"

Lindsay rolled her eyes but before she could say anything about her coworkers interrupting her girls lunch, Hawkes and Adam has joined them as well and she figured it best to just let them stay. Lindsay was well aware that she worked with some good looking guys. She knew Dallas wouldn't have a problem sitting next to a random guy she didn't know and she had a feeling that Liv and Ellie wouldn't mind the view either. Adam sat down next to Danny and Hawkes took the other end, leaving the seat next to Dallas open for Flack, something Lindsay knew her friend would enjoy.

"Guys," Lindsay said addressing her friends. "this is Danny, Hawkes, and Adam. They work with me." She saw Flack balancing a plate in each hand, making his way over to them. "And that is Flack." She saw a grin of appreciation flicker on Dallas's face. "Danny, Hawkes, Adam, and Flack, this is Liv, Ellie, and Dallas."

"Dal," Ellie said, looking down at the opposite end of the table. "Move your shit."

"But there's no room on the floor." Dallas whined.

Lindsay laughed. "Consolidate."

Dallas nodded and began picking the bags up from the other end.

"These are all yours?" Flack said to her.

She nodded. "I know, I bought too much." She began looking through her bags. "Here," She handed a Victoria's Secret bag to Lindsay. "Now, don't worry. I promise I didn't buy you lingerie...again. It's just a shirt. And it's something you'd actually wear." She hastened to add after seeing the look on Lindsay's face.

Dallas turned to Liv next. "Here," She handed her a small Free People bag. "and for you, El," She reached down, pulled a load of clothes out of the bag and put them in another before passing her the Abercrombie and Fitch bag.

"Yes!" Ellie exclaimed, and the entire table laughed. "He's cute. Do you know him?"

Again, the table laughed while Dallas groaned. "No, El, I don't. And believe me. After seeing his abs, I wish that I did."

At that point, Liv's phone rang.

"No no no, you can't answer that." Ellie said, widening her big blue eyes even more. "Work can't call you in now; we're out to lunch."

"Sorry El, the ER doesn't work like that." Liv teased, hitting a button on her phone and placing it back on the table. "But it's my sister, so don't worry. Besides it's my day off anyway, hence why I could meet you guys here, so I don't have to go back in until tomorrow at noon."

"Noon?" Dallas questioned, turning away from the mini conversation she was having with Flack. "Sooooo…" She dragged out the word.

"Sooooo what?" Liv asked.

"Soooo we could go out tonight." Dallas said. "Lindsay can bring all her work friends that we've been dying to meet that she keeps saying she'll introduce us to but it's not…"

"It's not the right time for that." Lindsay interrupted.

"Do you see what I mean?" Dallas cried, turning to Flack, who was cracking up. "I told you she'd say that!" Her hands were flying as she talked, a classic Dallas move, and her hand went flying into Flack's check. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as everyone, including Flack, burst into laughter.

"I am so so so sorry Don." She said. "I am so so so so…"

He cut her off, still laughing. "It's fine, Dal, I promise."

Dallas continued to make sure that Flack was ok but Danny and Lindsay weren't paying attention.

"Did you hear that?" Danny whispered.

"That she let him call her Dal?" Lindsay asked. "Yeah, I noticed."

"No," Danny said. "I meant that he let her call him Don. But if that's weird…" He trailed off.

Lindsay nodded. "It is. There are very few people that can get away with calling her Dal."

Danny smirked. "There are very few people that can get away with calling him Don."

"Hey you two." Hawkes called. "Care to share with the rest of us?"

"Nothing," Lindsay said. She hadn't even realized that she had subconsciously begun leaning toward Danny. "Just some…work stuff…about our office."

"Yeah," Danny said. "Montana doesn't like my filing system and she keeps trying to get me to change it."

"It's not that I don't like your filing system," Lindsay said. "Yours just isn't as good as mine."

"And you want me to change it." Danny continued.

"No, ok yes." Lindsay said. "I just think we should be organized so that we can find everything.

Dallas turned to Flack. "Do they always fight like this?" Ellie and Liv looked on in interest.

Flack, Hawkes, and Adam answered simultaneously. "Yes." The three girls laughed. Danny and Lindsay, still busy bickering, took no notice.

The six others got to talking a bit more before Hawkes looked at the time and claimed he had to get back to work. Flack, Danny, and Adam agreed. Ellie also stood up to leave, claiming she had a rehearsal to get to and Dallas realized that she was fifteen minutes late meeting her agent. The six of them stood to leave when Danny received a text message.

"Oh hey Montana, Stell wants everybody to meet at Sullivan's for drinks." Danny said, reading aloud. "And I'm sure," Danny continued with a mischievous smile, "that she would love to meet your friends."

A grin spread on Dallas's face. "You mean we get to go out with you guys?" Her voice was high, as she was excited.

Lindsay sighed. "I guess so."

"Yay!" Dallas and Ellie cheered together. Liv rolled her eyes.

Lindsay groaned. "Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

**A/N: So, do we like it? Not like it? Just let me know you think.**


	2. A Fire Escape? Really?

**A/N: Wow, thanks for the reviews everyone. I didn't think this would get this kind of attention, I guess. I'm glad you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.

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****Sullivan's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
October 14, 2006  
8:17 PM**

"What time do you think they'll get here?" Lindsay asked Liv, as she pulled open the door. She and Liv, who lived only one block apart, came from one direction while Ellie and Dallas, who lived in the same building, would be coming from the other. Sullivan's was between them (though a bit closer to Lindsay and Liv) and Lindsay knew this would become the new drinking spot.

Liv laughed as they went up to the bar. "Like 8:45." She giggled. "Maybe," She added as an afterthought. Lindsay picked up her beer and Liv took her Cosmo and they made their way into the back corner.

"Hey guys." Lindsay greeted. Mac, Stella, Adam, Marty, Sid, and Hawkes were already at the table. "Liv, you remember Hawkes and Adam from lunch today," Liv nodded, smiling at both. "That's Mac, Stella, Sid, and Marty."

"Hi there." Liv greeted all of them as she slid in next to Hawkes.

"Where's Danny and Flack?" Lindsay asked.

Stella shrugged. "They'll be here soon, I'm sure." She waved the thought away. "I can't believe you've been holding friends out on me. Girls, Lindsay, girls. Girls we can gossip to and shop with and share clothes with and talk to about boys. Boys that we can't talk about because we work with them."

"I know, Stell." Lindsay said. "I'm sorry. Two more will be here."

Stella sighed dramatically. "I guess you're forgiven."

"Forgiven for what?" Danny asked, as he sat down next to Lindsay.

"Hiding friends from Stella." Lindsay answered him.

"Friends?" Danny asked, looking around. "Oh hey Liv." He greeted. She waved to him, not bothering to look away from the conversation she and Hawkes were having about being doctors. "Ok, then." He said. "Cool."

"Hey guys." Ellie greeted enthusiastically. "What's up?" She slid into the opposite side of the large booth, next to Adam.

"Did you lose something?" Lindsay asked. Ellie's blue eyes narrowed in confusion as she tilted her head sideways. "She's about 5'9, brown hair, brown eyes, ridiculously tan skin, just got back from Brazil?"

Ellie looked relieved. "No, she's getting our drinks at the bar." She pointed and sure enough, Dallas was holding a fruity drink and a beer in one hand and texting in the other, a grin on her face.

"You're still texting him?" Ellie asked. Dallas nodded happily as she placed the fruity drink into front of the blonde. "You _are_ ridiculous."

"Well he's not here." Dallas said.

"What do you mean?" Lindsay asked.

"She and Flack have been texting all afternoon. They traded numbers when we left today and haven't stopped since." Ellie said.

"That was you?" Stella exclaimed, looking over at Dallas, who nodded. "I went down to talk to him and he was all smiles and distracted."

"Aww really?" Dallas said. Stella nodded. "Aww he's so cute." She sounded like she actually meant it, and was excited. She picked up her phone as it vibrated and after a few seconds, smiled and laughed, before texting back.

"Dal, El, this is Marty, Sid, Stella, and Mac." Lindsay said. "That's Ellie and Dallas." They waved. "Stella wants to come shopping with us next time."

"Ok." Dallas said immediately. "Yay, new friends."

"Dallas is a people person." Lindsay explained. "She's been dying to meet you guys because she loves meeting new people."

"It's because you guys get boring." Dallas said sticking her tongue out at Lindsay.

"Is Flack boring?" Lindsay countered, sticking her tongue out.

Dallas shook her head. "Nope. Not yet at least."

Lindsay sighed. "Just remember I work with him, ok? No really embarrassing stories, alright?"

As she said that, Flack slid into the booth next to Dallas. "Hey," He greeted her, before turning to Lindsay. "A fire escape, really?"

Lindsay immediately turned red and glared at Dallas as Liv and Ellie burst into laughter.

"That was the only one, I swear!" Dallas said, holding her hands up defensively.

"Fire escape?" Danny asked, clearly intrigued. "Do tell, Montana."

"Nope," Lindsay said. "Not happening." She turned to Flack, who had opened his mouth to speak. "And if you tell him, I'll send her brothers after you."

To his credit, Flack didn't look remotely scared until he saw the look on Dallas's face.

"Ok, children." Mac said, seeing that Don was about to reply. "Let's switch to a safer topic."

* * *

**Sullivan's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
October, 14, 2006  
11:35 PM**

"Ok," Stella said, taking charge. "Dallas, which way are you headed?"

Dallas pointed left. "Ellie and I both go that way." Stella nodded and looked pointedly at Flack.

"I got it Stell." Flack told her. "Make sure they get home all right. And Adam and Marty go that way too. I'm extremely confident that the three of us can handle it." His tone was semi-serious but his facial expression told Stella that he would actually do it.

"Ok, I guess the rest of us go the other way." Stella said. After various hugs between people (mostly the girls), the two groups split up.

"You know," Stella said. "We should have a girl's movie night sometime."

"Dal's apartment." Lindsay volunteered. "She totally won't mind, plus she's got the big TV and a ton of movies."

"Big TV?" Danny said. "How uh how big is this TV?"

Lindsay laughed. "You ever wanna watch a Knicks or Rangers game, give her a call. Dal loves sports."

"Buke's a Rangers fan?" Danny asked. At some point in the night, he had shortened her last name and christened that her nickname from him.

"Yeah." Liv said, suspiciously. "Why does it matter?"

"Flack," Danny began. "is a huge Rangers fan. And there is nothing he likes more than a nice conversation about his precious Rangers. If she can keep up with him, I'll tell you, he'll be in love."

"Then Flack's found a new girlfriend," Liv said. "Because she'll keep up easily."

"Excellent," Stella said. "He could use a girlfriend after the bomb." Mac, Hawkes, Sid, Danny, and Lindsay all nodded their agreement.

It was time for the second split of the night. Hawkes and Liv would go one way, while the others would all go the other. After a quick 'see you later' and 'I'll call you tomorrow' between Lindsay and Liv, Lindsay split off with Danny, Mac, Stella, and Sid.

"Hey, Hawkes," Liv asked quietly, as the two walked toward her building.

"Hmm?" He turned to her, struck, as he had been many times today, by her beauty.

"What did Stella mean earlier?" Liv asked. "About the bomb? What bomb? What was she talking about?"

Hawkes sighed. He always hated talking about this. Liv seemed to sense his hesitance to answer. "I'm sorry." She said. "You…you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"No," Hawkes said. "No, it's ok. Do you…remember that bomb that went off last May?" Liv nodded. "Well, Don was inside that building when it…exploded…and he was injured pretty badly. He just came back to work a couple weeks ago."

"But he's ok, right?" Liv asked. "Like I mean, he will be, right?"

Hawkes nodded. "Yeah. He's doing all right."

Liv nodded. "Good."

"Why?" Hawkes teased. "You got a crush on him? Cause I think you're out of luck. He seems pretty taken with your best friend."

"No!" Liv exclaimed. "God, no. I mean, he's cute and everything but so not my type." She paused. "Plus, Dal doesn't take to guys easily like that too often. In fact, the last time she did was when we were like 19. She really likes him." Liv stopped and looked up at him, for two reasons. The first being that they were outside her building. The second being that she wanted to see his expression on her last comment.

"He really likes her." Hawkes said.

Liv smiled and took a step closer. "She could use someone like him."

Hawkes smiled back at her. "He could use someone like her."

Liv nodded and stepped back. "Good." She placed her hand on his bicep. "Thanks for bringing me home. Good night Hawkes."

"Night Liv." He watched as she turned to her door. "Hey Liv?" Her hand was on the door handle as she turned to look at him. "Would you, maybe, want to go get some dinner with me sometime?" Liv smiled at him and nodded quickly. "Ok," Hawkes grinned. "See you later."

"Later," Liv said, pulling open the door. She stepped inside and leaned against the wall before doing a very Ellie-like thing—she squealed…about a date.

* * *

**A Couple Blocks Over  
Manhattan, New York  
October 14, 2006  
11:47 PM**

"Bye guys." Lindsay stood with Danny, waving at Stella, Mac, and Sid as the group got smaller again.

"So, Montana," Danny began.

"I'm sorry." Lindsay said. "I know, I shouldn't bring this up and I know I already said this but I am."

Danny shrugged. "It's ok, Linds."

Lindsay shook her head. "No, Danny, it's not. It's not. I'm sorry. It's just, I'm going through some stuff and I…"

Danny finished. "need some time to get through it." He stopped and grabbed her arm. "Hey, Montana, look at me." She looked up at him. "I will give you whatever time you need to get through this."

Tears came to the corners of Lindsay's eyes and he pulled her close to him. "Thanks Danny."

"I mean it, Linds," Danny said. "I'll be here when you're ready."

Lindsay finally pulled away. "Can we stop for some coffee, maybe?" She shrugged. "And you know, just talk a little. I can't tell you this…not yet at least. But maybe about other stuff?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." Lindsay nodded and smiled as Danny took her hand and led her into the nearby diner. "Come on Montana, let's talk."

* * *

**The Opposite Side of Town  
Manhattan, New York  
October 15, 2006  
12:03 PM**

"Bye Marty," Dallas waved cheerfully as the first member to leave their group entered his building. "Ok, I'm drunk." During the night, she and Marty had gotten into a drinking contest. It had been close, but in the end Dallas had come out on top…but she sure would be feeling it tomorrow.

Flack laughed. "Just a bit." And it was true. The walk home was actually helping her sober up, even if she couldn't walk without assistance. Flack's arm had wrapped around her, giving her the support she needed to walk, after she had tripped four different times, and at some point, Dallas's arm had made its way around Flack.

Ellie and Adam were walking a bit behind Dallas and Flack, who had been laughing and talking the entire way home, like they had known each other for years and not hours.

"I'm kind of embarrassed to know them right now." Ellie said. "Well not so much him, really only her."

Adam laughed. "Yeah, it's a good thing Flack's with her. She's being kinda loud and crazy. If we pass any officers, he'll just whip out his badge and fight crime…or help his semi-girlfriend."

Ellie giggled. "It's like Cinderella…except Prince Charming saves her from a drunk and disorderly instead of her evil stepmother."

"Are you talking about us?" Dallas turned her head back toward them.

"Nope." Ellie said, shooting a look at Adam.

"Oh, ok." Dallas said. "Carry on."

"Is she always like this?" Adam laughed.

"Pretty much." Ellie said. "She's always been the wild, crazy one, telling everybody to loosen up and have some fun. Doesn't care what anyone thinks as long as she's happy. I guess you can't argue with that." She shrugged. "But she puts up these walls. I know it doesn't look like it, because of how close they are. I mean, they've only known each other for a couple hours and look at them." She gestured to the two. Flack had pulled her even closer and Dallas was leaning against him as they walked. "But all of the big stuff, and believe me, she's got a lot of big stuff to tell, won't get pulled out until way later."

"What about you?" Adam asked. "You put up walls like she does?"

Ellie shook her head and smiled. "Nah, I'm pretty open with everything." She frowned as she watched Flack and Dallas stop outside the apartment building. "But then again, I haven't had people betray me like she has."

Adam took her hand and lightly squeezed it, sensing she was done with the conversation. "See you Ellie."

"Bye Adam." Ellie smiled and walked over to the door, stopping to wait for Dallas, who had turned so she was facing Flack.

"So," She said, tilting her head back and looking into his beautiful blue eyes with her sparkly brown ones.

"So," He mimicked, smirking down at her. "So, what?" Dallas widened her eyes up at him as she pulled back from him. With a laugh, he pulled her close to him and leaned down slightly to whisper in her ear. "Have dinner with me tomorrow night."

Dallas giggled. "I'll have to think about it." She pulled back from him, bit her lip, and then stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Pick me up at 7?"

"Bye Dal," Flack said, watching her walk to the door, where she grabbed Ellie's arm and did a little jump of excitement.

He'd had a good feeling about today when he woke up, the first true good feeling since the bomb.

He was glad it had actually come true.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did we think of this chapter?**


	3. A God Awful Surprise Thing

**A/N: So, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you all like this so much. Sorry it's been a while. Real life's been pretty stressful lately. The next one be a little off too.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs. CBS owns everything else.

* * *

****Dallas's Apartment Building  
Manhattan, New York  
October 15, 2006  
6:56 PM**

He wasn't sure if it was because this was the first real date he'd been on in a while or if it was something else entirely, but Don Flack couldn't remember the last time he had felt this nervous before a date. It wasn't a big, huge thing; they had plans for dinner and he had a small surprise planned for her after dinner that he knew she would like.

He knocked on the door once, and upon hearing her call "come in", he entered the apartment.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you should lock your doors?" He called in a semi-teasing tone.

Dallas shrugged as she came out of what Flack assumed was her bedroom. "Yeah, but I usually don't listen."

His breath hitched slightly in his throat. She was dressed simply, in medium wash jeans, silver ballet flats, and a green long sleeved shirt but she looked absolutely beautiful. He regained his ability to think in a short moment and answered. "Well you should start."

She gave him a smile as she reached in the hall closet and pulled out a puffy, white zip up vest. "You look beautiful," He told her.

Her cheeks pinked slightly as she pulled the vest on. "Thank you. You look pretty nice yourself." She looked over at him, taking in his casual jeans and blue shirt. "You look good in blue. It makes your eyes pop." She picked up her purse from the table and headed over toward the door, where he stood. "But I'm sure you get that a lot."

"Eh," He said, jokingly. "Once or twice."

She laughed. "Ok. I'm putting all my trust in you tonight. You better not screw me over."

"No pressure." Flack kidded.

She ignored him. "So, where are you taking me?"

"Out?' He answered simply, opening the door to the building for her.

"Out where?" Dallas asked.

"For dinner." Flack grinned, knowing she was getting irritated.

"Don," She said. "Be serious."

"Dal," He said, using the same tone of voice she did. "I am. I'm taking you out to dinner and then I have a surprise." He opened the passenger door for her and then went around to the driver's side and got in himself.

"I hate surprises." Dallas told him, turning in her seat to face him.

Don shrugged. "You'll like this one."

"But how can you be sure?" She asked, biting her lip, as he turned the car on.

He shrugged again. "I can't." He looked over at her. "You'll just have to trust me."

She looked at him apprehensively but didn't move and he took that as his cue to pull out into the traffic of the city.

* * *

**Starbucks Coffee  
Manhattan, New York  
October 15, 2006  
7:13 PM **

"Tall caramel latte, please." Ellie told the purple haired barista with the scowl on her face.

"$2.89," The barista said flatly. Ellie handed her a couple bills. "Thanks," She handed Ellie her change.

"No, thank you." Ellie muttered sarcastically under her breath as she made her way to the other end of the store to wait for her drink. Walking forward, she kept her head down, still muttering under her breath about the barista, until she realized there was a person in front of her.

"Sorry," they both said, at the same time and then stepped right. "Sorry again." They said again, as they both stepped left.

"You know what," The man said shortly. "You go to your right, and I'll go to mine."

Ellie looked up. "Adam?"

"Ellie?" He looked over at her. "Oh, I'm sorry." He said. "For being so short with you. It's been…a long day."

"You wanna sit down with our coffees and talk about it?" Ellie offered. She didn't have anywhere to go that night, except for home, and he looked like he needed a friend.

Adam nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice." He said, after a moment of hesitation. She nodded and smiled at him. Together, they waited patiently for her coffee and then found a small table for two in the back corner.

Ellie sipped her coffee patiently, waiting for him to start. She wasn't disappointed. In a few seconds, Adam spoke. "It's my sister."

Ellie gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I've got one of them."

Adam shook his head. "I just don't understand her." He sighed. "I don't understand how she can still be with him after everything." He looked up at her. Her navy blue eyes showed concern and confusion. "I had to go pick my sister up from the ER today. The guy she's been seeing…" he trailed off. "Well, she's covered in bruises and she's got a sprained wrist."

Ellie's eyes widened. "He…he hit her?"

Adam nodded. "And this isn't the first time. He hit her a couple months ago too. She swore it was an accident though." He sipped his coffee. "I told her to leave him…"

"Hey," Ellie protested, cutting him off. "This isn't your fault. It's not her fault. It's his and only his." She paused. "Sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted."

Adam gave her a small smile. "No," He said. "It's ok."

"Is she…?" Ellie began, not sure whether she should ask. "Is she staying with him?"

Adam shook his head. "No," He paused. "She's leaving him. She's already packed her stuff up and she's staying with me for a bit."

Ellie looked up at him. "See, she's already doing better than…" Ellie trailed off.

"Doing better than who?" Adam said.

Ellie sighed. "I shouldn't have said that but I have to tell you now. But you can't tell anyone!" He gave her an affirmative answer that he wouldn't tell. "You're doing better than Dal's mom ever did." She said softly.

"She's doing better than my mom ever did too." Adam said quietly.

"I'm sorry." Ellie said. "I know this has to be hard for you."

Adam shrugged. "Yeah well, nobody ever said life was easy did they?"

Ellie smiled at him. "It'd take all the fun out of it."

* * *

**New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
October 15, 2006  
7:48 PM**

"God, I am starving." Danny announced as he entered the break room.

Lindsay, who was sitting at the table with Hawkes, laughed. "Is that supposed to be breaking news Danny? You're always hungry."

"You wound me Montana." Danny said, sitting down next to her, across from Hawkes. "I am not nearly as bad as Flack."

"He has a point there, Linds." Hawkes laughed. "Anyway, don't worry Danny. Take out's here now; Marty went down to pick it up."

"Speaking of Flack," Lindsay said. "Do either one of you happen to know about this surprise he has planned for tonight?"

"Surprise?" Danny said. "No, no, no. Flack doesn't plan 'surprises' for people."

"Well apparently he does." Lindsay said. "Because he's taking Dal out to dinner and then he, and this is a direct quote from her, 'has one of those god awful surprise things' planned." She used air quotes around the words she took from Dallas.

"Everybody likes surprises." Hawkes said. Danny nodded in agreement, clearly still in awe about his best friend's 'surprise'.

"Not Dallas." Lindsay said. "We threw her a surprise twentieth birthday. She opens the door, everybody shouts out surprise, and she jumps about three feet in the air, hits her head on the door, and then sat on the ground hyperventilating and crying for a good ten minutes."

"The sad thing about that," Danny said. "is that I can actually picture that happening."

"Who's ready for some Chinese?" Marty called out, as he entered the break room, with two large bags. He set them on the table and sat down next to Hawkes. Together with Hawkes and Danny, the trio looked over at Lindsay.

She sighed. "I'll get the plates and silverware." Begrudgingly, she stood, amidst the laughter of the other three.

* * *

**Holey Cow  
Brooklyn, New York  
October 15, 2006  
9:44 PM**

"Holey Cow?" Dallas looked up at him. "This is it? This is the surprise? I'm a little worried right now."

"Don't be," Don told her, placing his hand on the small of her back and guiding her through the open door. "You'll like it."

And sure enough, he was right. Her jaw dropped as soon as she stepped in the door.

"You found indoor mini golf?" She turned to him, the excitement clear on her face. He nodded and she squealed as she threw her arms around his neck. "Best surprise ever!"

He grinned triumphantly and circled his arms around her waist. "Yeah, I'm awesome. I know."

She pulled away. "Come on!" She exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him over to the counter, practically skipping her way there.

She was bouncing in place while he paid for a game. His big discovery of the night had been her bouncing. She bounced when she walked; she bounced when she talked. It amused him immensely.

"Come on, let's play!" She said, reaching in the ball rack for the hot pink ball. The old man behind the desk laughed.

"I like her Don." He said. "Bring her back anytime."

Flack laughed as he picked up the blue ball, same as he always used. "Thanks Tony."

Dallas waited until they had picked out their clubs (a tall black one for him and a shorter green one for her) before asking the questions he knew she was dying to ask.

"How do you know him?" She put her ball down at the beginning of the first hole.

Don watched as her ball rolled down the green, bounced off the wall, and stopped about two feet from the hole. "Grew up down the street from him. He opened this place when I was probably like 10 or 11." Dallas stepped aside so that he could take his turn. "His wife died from cancer and his daughter moved to California with her husband so my mom likes to invite him to holidays with us." His ball rolled down the green and straight into the hole. He smirked at her before continuing. "Anyway, his wife died a long time ago; I don't even remember her. But his wife and daughter loved mini golf. And they used to have to go out of the city to play…"

"So Tony opened this place." Dallas smiled as she walked down to take her second shot. The ball rolled quickly into the hole and she grinned at him as he tallied the small scores.

* * *

**Holey Cow  
Brooklyn, New York  
October 15, 2006  
10:36 PM**

"Champ!" He raised his hands in the air, showing his victory as the two entered the lobby. Except for Tony and themselves, no one was there because it was Sunday, the night Holey Cow closed at 10.

"Ehh you win again?" Tony asked, using a rag to wipe down the counter, but looking up to talk to them.

"By one point," Dallas shot to him. "And you cheated. It is _absolutely_ illegal to tickle someone when they're trying to take their shot!" She accused.

"I did no such thing," Don said, trying (and failing) to look innocent.

"Bullshit." She said.

Tony laughed. "Did I mention I like her? Really, you should keep this one around for a bit."

Don rolled his eyes. "Dal, that's Tony. Tony, Dallas." She stepped forward, holding her hand out for him to shake. Tony eyed it but shook and then nodded.

"Yep," Tony said. "You bring her back anytime. Free games anytime she's with."

Dallas smiled, causing Don to smile too. "Thank you," Dallas said. "For letting us stay."

Tony smiled at her. "Not a problem. You guys heading out?"

Don nodded. "Yeah, I gotta be at work early tomorrow. Unless you need us to do something?"

Tony shook his head. "You two kids go ahead. Don't do anything too crazy!" He teased.

Dallas laughed as Don wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Bye Tony," They both waved as they headed out.

"See that Maura," Tony said, speaking to the spirit of his dead wife. "Jr's gone and found himself a nice girl. Nat'll be happy with her boy."

* * *

**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
October 15, 2006  
11:09 PM**

Dallas stuck her key in the door and then turned around to face him. "So, I had a really nice time tonight." She smiled up at him.

"Well I'm glad." He reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

"Bye Don." She said, stepping toward her door.

He gently took her arm, pulling her closer to him, and pressed a soft, sweet kiss to her lips, which she returned. He pulled away and upon seeing her beautiful (and somewhat contagious) smile, he smiled too. "Bye Dal."

He waited until the door closed before moving toward the elevator. As soon as the doors slide closed, his phone vibrated.

1 New Message from Dallas. He clicked open.

_Be careful. Text me when you're home.  
_

He replied. _I will.

* * *

_

**A/N: So, a very Don and Dallas centered chapter. A little bit of Danny and Lindsay and some Ellie and Adam. No Hawkes and Liv this chapter but their date will be next chapter so we'll be seeing some of them. Also, we have our first case next chapter. I'm going to ****do some episodes of the show (for example, the next one) and then also come up with some of my own. Also, the first escape story will either come out next chapter or the one after that, it all depends on timing. So, what did we think?**_  
_


	4. Countries!

**A/N: **So, it's been a while. Sorry for the wait. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **So, I only own the OCs. CBS owns CSI:NY.

* * *

**Free People Dressing Room  
Manhattan, New York  
October 17, 2006  
3:49 PM**

"Ok, so dinner was good. What next?" Ellie called over the wall, separating her dressing room from Dallas's.

Dallas frowned at the floral top she had on. "Yes, dinner was fabulous." She picked up a gray cloth dress and pulled it on over her head. "And you'd know what happened next if you had bothered to meet us yesterday morning for bagels."

Ellie snickered at her friend's Philadelphia dialect but then quickly became quiet, thinking about where she had actually been.

Seeming to know what she was thinking, Dallas called over to her friend. "Speaking of, where were you yesterday?"

Ellie laughed. "Ah ah ah. Not uh. You tell me what happened at the end of the date and I'll tell _you_ where I was yesterday morning!" She skipped out of the dressing room. "But first, come out here and tell me how this looks?"

Dallas stepped out in the gray dress. She bit her lip thoughtfully, motioning for Ellie to twirl. Her blonde friend complied. "Do they have it in a different color? The yellow's too bright for you."

Ellie nodded and reached in her dressing room. "Ok, now tell." She said, searching through the large pile of clothes.

Dallas smiled happily. "He took me to this indoor mini golf place. And we golfed. He won. Ohh yeah, the pink one, get that one." She jumped and pointed excitedly at the same shirt Ellie had tried on previously but in a pale pink.

Ellie snickered a shot her a look. "ADD much?"

"Fine," Dallas mock-glared at her friend but her face changed to one of joy and excitement at her next statement. "I guess you don't want to hear about the kiss." She turned away, a grin on her face, knowing her friend would want details.

"He kissed you?" Ellie shrieked, grabbing her friend's arm. "Ok, share. Do not leave anything out. Oh and here." She held out the ivory colored dress with the beaded bodice for her friend to take. "Try this on, I think you'll like it. But talk while you try."

Dallas nodded and went inside the dressing room, taking the dress with her. "So he took me home and then he walked me up. And I was standing outside, getting ready to go inside and I said bye and everything and then he grabbed my arm and pulled me close…" She stepped out of the dressing room, fully dressed in the ivory dress, but Ellie wasn't paying attention. "and then he kissed me." She smiled.

"You're dreamy." Ellie accused.

"I am not!" Dallas protested. She was not one to get dreamy over guys. That was Ellie's job. Dallas was much more practical in her relationships.

"Yes you are." Ellie said. "You are dreamy." She grinned. "You're in love."

"Ok, we've had one date!" Dallas exclaimed. "I am not in love! Or dreamy!"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Ok, Dal. Whatever you say."

"Thank you." Dallas said stubbornly. "Now, what do you think of this? I really li…" She was cut off by Ellie squealing.

"Oh my gosh!" Ellie exclaimed. "Gorgeous. You _have_ to get that. Flack will _die_ when he sees you in that."

Dallas laughed. "Good, I'm glad you like it. Cause I love it." She twirled and the skirt of the dress flared out.

"You can wear that on your next date." Ellie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Dallas laughed. "Somehow I don't think Don is the kind of guy who takes a girl out to a dress worthy restaurant on the second date."

"Apparently Hawkes is," Ellie said. "He's taking Liv to this fancy French place tonight."

"No way!" Dallas exclaimed, going back into her dressing room to pull on her regular clothes. Ellie did the same.

"Yeah," Ellie said. "I was surprised."

Dallas shrugged. "He's a classy guy though. He seems like it, at least." She stepped out of the dressing room, arms full of clothing with the ivory dress on top. She shrugged her shoulders and she leaned against the wall to wait for her slow changing friend. "I guess we'll find out details tomorrow."

* * *

**Pastis  
Manhattan, New York  
October 17, 2006  
7:57 PM**

Hawkes nervously pulled her chair out and waited patiently for his date to sit down. Liv thanked him and placed her napkin in her lap as he stepped around the table.

"You look incredible." He told her. And she did. She looked absolutely stunning in her pale lavender dress, which contrasted beautifully with her dark skin.

"Thank you," She said, slightly embarrassed. "You're looking good yourself."

But for a bit, not much was said to each other as Hawkes ordered a bottle of white wine and the two perused the menu.

Conversation after that flowed easily between the two. They talked in depth about their childhoods. He discussed how he had been a child prodigy and a couple of his close family members.

She told him about how she was adopted at a young age and then about her parents adopting her sister a few years later.

"I wanted to make a bigger difference, to help people as much as possible." Hawkes was telling her, just as their dinner came, on why he had switched from being an ME to a CSI.

Liv nodded, completely understanding. "That's why I became a doctor." She said. "I always wanted to be able to help all these different people growing up but was never really able to."

Chatter continued between the two of them. It was light and flirty and everything a first date should be. Liv had a good feeling about this one.

That good feeling was reaffirmed when he walked her up to her door and kissed her cheek softly, promising to call tomorrow.

She walked inside and pulled her phone out of her clutch. She sent him a text. _Be careful._

She didn't have to wait long for a reply. _Always.

* * *

_

**Ellie's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
October 17, 2006  
10:04 PM**

"This is what you're doing when you swim…" Danny said but was cut off by a loud.. "BZZZTT". Danny cursed loudly and threw a card with the word 'SKNNY-DIP' into the middle of the table.

It had been a pretty quiet night. Hawkes and Liv were on their date and Mac, Stella, Lindsay, and Don were all working tonight so Ellie, Adam, Danny, and Dallas were left to find something to do. Dallas had a shoot the next day, and therefore wasn't drinking tonight, so they opted against going to a bar and instead went to Ellie's apartment for game night. After a couple games of pinochle, the four had pulled out Taboo. Danny was describing to Dallas while Ellie and Adam looked over his shoulder.

"Danny, you're terrible at this game!" Dallas exclaimed, though she herself wasn't much better. "That's the fourth card this round that you've been buzzed on. And we haven't even gotten one yet!"

Danny glared at her but began to describe his next word. "Ok, you go out to a bar, have a ton of alcohol and you are…"

"Drunk." Dallas said.

"'Nother word." Danny said.

"Wasted, smashed, plastered, int…" She was cut off.

"YES!" Danny exclaimed and went for the next card. "Ok, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica are all…"

"Ohh countries!" Dallas exclaimed and Ellie Adam burst into laughter.

"What the fuck?" Danny cried as the timer ran out. "Countries? Are you retarded?" Dallas joined her opponents in laughter.

"She's terrible at geography." Ellie said, once she had calmed down a bit. "Always has been." Dallas nodded in agreement. "Ok Adam, I'm ready." Adam nodded, passing the buzzer to Dallas, who leaned over in her seat toward him.

"Ready?" Danny asked, and then flipped the timer. "GO!"

At the end of the timer, Ellie and Adam had a pile of 8 cards that they had guessed correctly.

"We suck." Dallas said to Danny, passing the buzzer to Ellie and pulling the cards over so that they were in front of her.

The apartment buzzer rang, signaling that the food they had ordered had arrived. Ellie stood up, grabbing the money everyone had put up, and handed the buzzer to Adam. "Be ruthless." She told him and walked toward the door.

"Oh yeah," Dallas called sarcastically after her friend. "It's not like you're winning by like twenty or anything." Danny snorted and then laughed along with Dallas and Adam.

"Ok, ready Danny?" Dallas said. Danny nodded and Adam flipped the timer.

Ellie laughed as she opened the door to her apartment. "Look who I found!" She called, gesturing to Flack, who was standing behind her, holding the food.

But the three others didn't care. Dallas was describing. "Ok, you do this to one of your body parts…"She trailed off. "Well on some people two parts of your body."

"Blow." Danny said immediately. Dallas nodded and the two cracked up.

"Time." Adam managed to say through the tears of laughter in his eyes.

"Oookkkk," Ellie said, exchanging an amused look with Flack. "Dal-las," She sing-songed. "There's somebody here to see you." She continued in the same tone of voice.

Dallas looked over, still laughing. Her eyes lit up as she saw Don and she jumped up to run over to him. "Hi!" She grinned, looping her arms around his neck and standing on the tips of her toes to hug him.

"Hi," Don laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. "Are you drunk?" He asked. "You're pretty giggly."

She shook her head. "Nope, I haven't had any alcohol tonight." She led him over to the breakfast bar, where everyone except for Adam (who was counting points up from the game), was gathered.

Don had a clear expression of disbelief on his face and personally, Ellie couldn't blame him.

"She really hasn't had anything alcoholic." Ellie told him. "She has a shoot tomorrow. No alcohol for her."

"Why not?" Don asked curiously.

"Fabiano is fabulous," Dallas said, referring to her make-up artist. "But even he can only do so much with a hangover."

"So," Adam entered the kitchen. "Ellie and I win. We got 38."

"What'd we get?" Danny asked.

Adam looked down, embarrassed. "Uhh three." Dallas and Danny exchanged a look before bursting into laughter.

"Food's up." Ellie said, as she placed plates and silverware on the counter.

For a while there was aimless chatter between the five while they piled their plates and ate their food.

"What are you shooting tomorrow?" He turned to Dallas once everyone finished their food.

"Christmas stuff." She said.

Don smirked. "What kind of Christmas stuff?" He teased. She had told him about her modeling for Victoria's Secret on their date and his reaction had been priceless.

She smirked right back at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Know what?" Danny asked.

Dallas, Don, and Ellie exchanged a look. "Should we tell him?" Ellie asked.

"Might as well." Dallas said.

"He'll find out eventually." Don agreed.

Dallas nodded. "So," She began. "You probably figured from the fact that I have a shoot tomorrow that I'm a model." Danny and Adam both nodded. "I model for Victoria's Secret."

There was a loud burst of laughter as Dallas, Don, and Ellie witnessed the looks on Danny and Adam's faces.

"No way." Danny said in disbelief. "No way. No way. No way."

Dallas giggled as she placed her hand on Don's bicep and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Hey, he sounds like you the other night babe."

Don laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. "Yeah, little bit."

Adam, though still looking impressed, had gotten over it quickly. Danny, however, took his time getting over it, and was still getting over it when he, Don, and Dallas left, leaving Ellie and Adam.

"How's your sister?" Ellie asked as they worked on cleaning up the apartment. "Ally, right?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, Ally." He paused. "She's all right. Her wrist still hurts and she flinches when you go near her sometimes, but the bruises are starting to fade, so…" He trailed off.

Ellie smiled at him. "She'll be ok." They had finished cleaning and Adam had grabbed his jacket, as they headed to the door. "She's strong."

"How do you know?" Adam asked, teasingly. "You don't even know her!"

"If she's anything like her brother, I know she'll be fine." Ellie said, placing her hand on his arm reassuringly.

"Thanks El,' Adam said. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "You're a good friend."

She gave him a small smile. "Bye Adam," She said.

"Bye Ellie." He kissed her cheek and walked out, without another look back.

Luckily for her, he didn't turn around. If he had he would have seen the blush in her cheeks and the cheesy smile on her face.

It was official. Ellie Kaplan was crushing on Adam Ross.

* * *

**So, what do we think? Did we like it? I apologize if I offended anyone with some of the language**.


	5. I'm Not Drunk Enough For This to Be OK

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and thanks to everyone who reviewed. I still can't believe that everyone likes this so much. Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: CBS owns CSI:NY, I own the OCs.**

_**Note:** Spoilers in this chapter for 3x05--Oedipus Hex. Actual lines in the chapter are taken right from the episode.  
_

**

* * *

****A Warehouse  
Manhattan, New York  
October 18, 2006  
10:06 AM **

"Lindsay," She vaguely heard her name being called as she looked at the victim. "Lindsay," This time it registered when Mac called her and she turned her head to him.

"You wanna take overalls?" Mac asked, handing her a camera.

"Sure Mac." Lindsay said, taking the camera and putting her case down. Mac gave her a small look of concern as he walked away and she felt Danny come up behind her before he said anything. His presence alone was comfort enough and his next question showed his clear concern for her.

"What's going on?" He asked. "You all right?" They both looked down at the young girl on the ground.

"Yeah," Lindsay said, pushing images of her teenage years into the back of her mind. "I'm fine."

It was clear, though, that Danny didn't believe her. Luckily, he didn't say anything. He knelt down next to the body and began to talk to Mac. Their witty banter barely even registered in Lindsay's mind as she snapped pictures, images of her past still floating in her head.

Soon enough they were back in the lab. Lindsay and Danny logged in the evidence as Mac got called away to another scene.

* * *

**A Coffee Cart in Central Park  
Manhattan, New York  
October 18, 2006  
1:49 PM**

"Hey," Liv greeted Lindsay, who stood with two coffees in her hand. "Sorry I'm late. And I can't stay long but you sounded upset so I figured I'd come for a bit."

Lindsay shrugged. "Yeah, sorry. I knew you were at work. I called Dal first, but she's still at her shoot and Ellie's at rehearsal still. I didn't want to take you from work but I really need someone to talk to."

"It's fine, Linds." Liv said. "As long as one of those is for me." She smiled and pointed to the coffees in Lindsay's hands.

"Of course." Lindsay passed her friend a cup and watched as she took a sip. "How was your date?"

"Good," Liv smiled and her eyes lit up. "Great actually. But you didn't call me here to talk about my date. We can do that later with Dal and Ellie so I don't have to tell the story over and over again. I have maybe ten more minutes to give to you before I'm taken away again."

"But the clock won't even have struck midnight by then." Lindsay teased, but quickly told her friend about her day.

There were tears in Lindsay's eyes as she finished recounting her thoughts of her past. "Oh hun," Liv said. "It'll be fine."

"And I feel terrible because I have done everything possible to push him away while I deal with this and he just keeps on being nice to me!" Lindsay said. There was no need to ask who the 'him' was; it was quite clear.

"Maybe," Liv said quietly. "Maybe you should just tell him." Lindsay's head shot up and the look on her face clearly said she wasn't going to, but Liv continued speaking. "Linds, Danny seems like a really nice guy. If you tell him what happened, I'm sure he'll try and help you through it."

"Exactly!" Lindsay said. "I can't have him help me through it. I need to work through this by myself. For myself. And then, well, then he can help me through anything he wants." She stopped speaking and before Liv could think of anything to say, her pager went off, calling her back to the hospital. She hugged her friend quickly and rushed off.

Lindsay sighed and crossed her legs on the park bench. Across the courtyard, a girl in her late teens or early twenties ran over to a guy of a similar age and jumped up into his arms, huge smiles on both of their faces.

One day, she'd be like that too.

* * *

**New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
October 18, 2006  
2:35 PM**

"Tell me Omen was stomped to death." Danny walked into the room and Lindsay's breath hitched in her throat. The blue shirt he had on today really made his eyes seem bluer than usual. She liked it.

Quickly, she refocused on work. "I don't think so Danny," She said. "There are no abrasive wounds to the skull like you'd expect if it were a stomping case." She swallowed. "This girl was bludgeoned."

Sid walked in. "Uhh, you two have a visitor. Carensa Sanders' mom's in the conference room." He turned around and left the lab.

They watched him leave. Danny spoke. "Did you uh tell her to come down?"

"No!" Lindsay shook her head, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Why don't you take it?" Danny said. "I'm a go follow up with the shoe polish."

"Oh sure, leave me with the distraught mom?" Lindsay said. She was getting defensive and she knew it, but she couldn't help it. "Stick Lindsay with the jobs nobody wants?"

"Hey," Danny said, a look of concern on his face. 'What's a matter with you?" He sounded genuinely concerned. "You've been acting funny since we got to the crime scene."

"Look, I need you to take this." She was too close to telling him. She needed an escape, some time to breathe and think through her thoughts.

"Why?" He asked. He looked confused.

She sighed and groaned. "I'm no good with mothers." She blinked back a tear quickly. If Danny noticed, he didn't say anything. "Fathers I can give bad news to all day long. I can't face mothers. I need you to take it."

"All right." She was relieved when he didn't press for answers about why. "Ok, I got it."

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, while finishing up her work there. Lindsay quickly put her stuff away and went down to watch Danny with the mother.

* * *

**Make-up and Hair Room  
Manhattan, New York  
October 18, 2006  
2:44 PM**

The Christmas shoot was always one of Dallas's favorite shoots. She loved the stuff, she loved the sets, and even the smells the set designers put on to give it a real Christmas feel.

But the real reason she loved the Christmas shoot so much was because it meant Christmas was near. Dallas had always loved Christmas. She loved the decorations, the music, the feeling. The Christmas shoot was always a good one for her.

She was sitting in Make-up and Hair. Fabiano, her make-up artist was holding a palette of eye shadows next to her face, trying to decide on a color, while Remy, her hair stylist, was curling her dark brown locks into big, loose, barrel curls. She felt her phone vibrate in her hands and looked down, expecting a text from Don.

Instead, she saw it was from Lindsay. _I just got hit on by a half pink haired half bald and tattooed Suicide girl named Razzi. I'm not drunk enough for this to be ok. Movie night at your place tonight? _

Dallas laughed out loud, only to be glared at by Fabiano and Remy. "Sorry," she apologized before replying to her friend's text. _Sure, bring some of those cupcakes you made yesterday._

She snapped her phone shut, closed her eyes for Fabiano, and waited patiently. Soon she was deemed perfect for now and sent out onto the set.

* * *

**37****th**** Precinct  
Manhattan, New York  
October 18, 2009  
6:48 PM**

Danny sighed as he watched Carensa Sanders' mom through the window. He wasn't quite sure how she would react to the news that they had found her daughter's killer. He could only hope she wouldn't slap him again.

He was about to step forward when Lindsay came up beside him and took the video out of his hands. "My turn," She said. "I'll do it."

"You sure?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's the job." She gave him a small smile and then began walking toward the conference room. About halfway to her final destination, she turned around to face him. "Hey, could we go out and get some coffee really quick after this? Just for ten minutes?" She paused. "There's some…things …need to tell you."

He nodded slowly. She gave him another small smile and went into the conference room. He opted against watching her with the mother and instead decided to go wait for her at Flack's desk. He rounded the corner just in time to see the big Suicide Girls reunion.

One of the girls, a dark brunette, walked up to him. "Nixon Suicide, right?" He asked. "You're free."

"Never wasn't" She responded. "Feel like going out for a couple cocktails? Maybe knock back a couple, see where the night takes us?"

"Well, I gotta say that's pretty tempting but I'm thinking that's not such a good idea." He said, thinking of the lighter brunette he was waiting for. "Maybe next time." He offered her friendly.

She flicked his nose. "Being with a Suicide Girl, you don't know what you're missing." She turned and walked away, looking at him over her shoulder before grouping up with the others and walking out.

"Who was she?" Flack asked, coming over to his best friend, who was rubbing his temples.

"What?" Danny teased lightly. "You going for the, what'd she call it, the punk rock, pierced goth glam or glam goth pin up girls now? The Victoria's Secret model you got ain't good enough for ya?"

Flack smirked but before he could open his mouth to say anything, Lindsay arrived.

"Hey Flack," She greeted. "Ready to go?" She linked her arm through Danny's. He nodded. Together, they waved to Flack and walked out the precinct, already laughing and joking around.

Don watched them walk out, waited until they were out of the doors, and pulled out his phone to text his girlfriend.

* * *

**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
October 18, 2006  
7:27 PM**

As soon as Lindsay put her hand on the door knob, the door was swung open by her best friend. Dallas was standing there, right hand on her hip, hip jutted out, dressed comfortably in fold over yoga pants and a tight tank top.

"Hi," Lindsay said, pushing past her best friend. "That was a little creepy."

"Never mind that," Dallas waved it off and followed Lindsay to her room, where Lindsay was going to change into more comfortable clothes. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell who?" Lindsay said, pulling open the drawer in Dallas's dresser that was full of her stuff and grabbing out a t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants similar to her best friend.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Dallas leaned against her doorframe. "Don _told_ me that you and Danny were going out together after your case. Liv _told _me what you guys talked about today. In put two and two together…" Lindsay shot her friend a look. "all right, all right. Don and I put two and two together, together." She giggled. "Together, together haha." Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I thought that you might have told him."

Lindsay shook her head. "I seriously considered it." It was Dallas's turn to give her friend a look. "No, seriously, I did. After I talked to Liv and totally shot down the idea to tell him, I went back to work and started thinking about it…"

"And…" Dallas prompted.

"And I came up with more reasons to tell him than I did not to." Lindsay said, finishing getting dressed and sitting on Dallas's bed. "Like legitimate reasons, not stupid ones."

"Then what's the problem?" Dallas asked softly, sitting down next to Lindsay.

"The problem?" Lindsay said. "The problem is that telling him _why_ I can't be with him doesn't change that I can't be with him yet. Not now. Not yet. Not until I come to terms with this myself." She stood up and walked over to the dresser where her purse was sitting.

Dallas cocked her head to the side. "Well, Linds, I hate to pressure, but you have to come to terms with this soon."

"I know," Lindsay said pulling a crisp, white envelope out of her purse and handing it to her friend. "And it'll be sooner than I thought." She said, tears in her eyes.

Dallas pulled the letter toward her and read through it. "It'll be ok, hun." She wrapped her arms around her best friend. "It'll all be ok."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so no Ellie and Adam, no Hawkes, only a little bit of Dallas and even less Don. A pretty Danny and Lindsay centered chapter, but they need to start making headway on their relationship. Reviews are love =]**


	6. You're So Gorgeous and Sexy and

**A/N: Thanks everyone, for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. Here's the next chapter. No spoilers this time.  
**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.

* * *

****New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
October 26, 2006  
4:49 PM**

"Oh come on!" Dallas exclaimed. "Seriously, she's my best friend. She will want to see me."

"Sorry," The young blonde secretary with the obnoxious voice named Karen said, not sounding sorry at all. "Can't let you up without an appointment."

"That's ok, Karen." Danny came up beside Dallas. "I'll take her up."

"Oh ok Danny," Karen said enthusiastically. "I'll get her a visitor's pass right away! Whatever you need!"

Less than a minute later, Dallas was following Danny into the elevator, talking nonstop about the bitchy secretary.

"My God," Danny said, once they were both in the elevator and he had pushed the button. "Do you ever stop talking?"

Dallas shook her head. "So, Karen?" Danny glared at her. "Oh Danny, I'll get you a visitor's pass right away." She mimicked Karen's high-pitch squeal.

"Shut up!" Danny told her.

Dallas continued her teasing all the way out of the elevator. "Oh Danny, you can have what _ever_ you need. Why? Well gosh, 'cause you're so gorgeous and sexy and…"

"Um, alright." Don said coming out of Mac's office, along with Mac and Hawkes. Dallas giggled as he wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug.

Danny snickered. "Karma."

Dallas shrugged and laughed. "I'm sure he's seen how she acts around you."

"Not only seen it," Danny said. "_Experienced_ it. She likes him even more than she likes me."

Dallas turned toward her boyfriend, who after hugging her, had left his arm around her shoulder. "So _that's_ why you come here so often!" She cried.

"What?" Don's eyes widened, a worried expression on his face. "You little…" He trailed off when he saw the laughter she was unsuccessfully trying to hide.

"Alright _kids_," Mac laughed at the pair. "That's enough." Don and Dallas nodded.

"Hey, Mac, have you seen Lindsay?" Dallas asked.

Mac nodded. "She's in the break room. We're headed there now if you'd like to join us."

"I would very much like to." Dallas said, linking her arm through Don's and then patting Danny on the shoulder. "Thanks for the help today Mess." She said.

"You owe me one." Danny said. He paused. "And I think I know what I want."

"And what would that be?" Don asked suspiciously, glaring at his best friend.

"Mi dispiace." Dallas said. "Non è il mio segreto da raccontare." _I'm sorry. It's not my secret to tell._

Danny sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

"Absolutely." Dallas nodded supportively but as soon as he turned away to go to his office before going to the break room. "Absolutely not the right idea." She said. Don kissed the side of her head and pulled her closer as they entered the break room.

Lindsay and Stella looked up as the group entered the room. "Hey Dal," Lindsay greeted. "What are you doing here?"

Dallas did a little jump before walking over toward her best friend. "_You_ need a spa day." She said. "And _I_ am here to offer you one." She sat down in the chair across from Lindsay. "Tomorrow afternoon. 2:30. Javier. Be there."

Lindsay frowned. "I work tomorrow."

"You're on secondary call tomorrow." Mac interrupted. "I'll be sure to make sure you get a couple of hours in before you get called out."

"Thanks Mac." Dallas said. "So, you're in?" Lindsay nodded. "Excellent." Dallas turned to Stella, eyes sparkling. "Wanna come?"

"You can just add another onto the appointment like that?" Stella asked.

Dallas nodded. "Absolutely. Javier loves me."

"Then I'm in." Stella said. "I could use a nice relaxing afternoon at a spa after the day I've had. Good thing I'm off tomorrow."

"Yes!" Dallas said, taking out her phone to text Javier about the addition. "I am so excited. Talinga's coming in tomorrow for a few hours, just for us."

"Talinga's back?" Lindsay asked, snapping to attention.

"Who's Talinga?" Don and Stella asked at the same time.

"Best pedicurist on the east coast." Dallas responded. "God I need Talinga. I haven't gotten a really good pedicure since before Portugal and Brazil. It's been months." She said dramatically.

"Poor baby." Don teased coming up behind her.

"Don't mock," Dallas said, leaning her head back against him and closing her eyes. "I can't handle the torture."

Lindsay watched with amusement. Every day, the two of them were getting closer. Even only having been together for two weeks, Lindsay was pretty sure that Dallas felt more comfortable with Don than she had with all the other relationships she'd ever had. It was strange to see her best friend this way.

Don laughed. "Can't handle the torture, eh? Alright then, I'll be nice."

"That's all I ask," Dallas said, a small smile on her face.

"Don't you have something to do today?" Lindsay asked Dallas.

Dallas shook her head. "Nope, no work today. I already cleaned my entire apartment."

"Wanna clean mine?" Danny joked as he entered the break room.

Dallas shook her head. "Not really. If you want to pay me I will, but if not, then no."

"No plans later?" Don asked. Dallas shook her head. "Wanna grab some dinner and do something?" Dallas nodded enthusiastically and Don laughed. "Ok, well I gotta go drop something off at the precinct but then we can go." Dallas nodded and took the hand he offered to help her stand up. "Anybody else want in?"

Mac, Hawkes, Adam, and Stella all denied, all having to work that night. Danny and Lindsay, however, decided to join the pair.

"We'll meet you at the restaurant in 30." Danny said.

"That's fine." Dallas said. "I'm not dressed warmly enough to do anything tonight so we'll run home so I can change. See you in 30."

* * *

**Rockefeller Center  
Manhattan, New York  
October 26, 2006  
8:12 PM**

Dallas shrieked as a blur went flying past her on ice skates and grabbed onto Don's arm to keep herself from falling.

Don laughed. "Dal, that kid's like six years old and he's just lapped us for the tenth time."

"I told you before we got on here that I couldn't ice skate." She said.

During a nice dinner at the Rock Center Café, Lindsay had mentioned that she had never been ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Danny and Don had freaked and claimed that it was something she needed to do. Dallas had objected; she had always hated ice skating. The boys, however, wouldn't have any objections, and made the decision to take the girls ice skating after dinner.

Lindsay laughed, as she and Danny came up next to their best friends. "Face it Don. She's just not an ice skater."

"I've gathered." Don teased.

"Go away!" Dallas told him. "Just go. You and Danny go and…race. Yeah, go race around the rink."

"If you say so," Danny took off.

"Hey!" Don protested and raced off after him.

Lindsay linked her arm through her best friend's and the two began to slowly skate around the ice.

"So sex with Flack is…" Lindsay teased.

"Non-existant." Dallas said. Lindsay's eyes widened. "Yeah, I know," Dallas said. "I just…I just want to make sure I'm sure."

"Oh," Lindsay exclaimed, placing her hand over her heart. "Dal, you're growing up!"

Dallas opened her mouth to retort, but before she was able to, she had been swept up by Don.

She shrieked. "Oh my God, Don, put me down. Please, just put me down."

"Down?" He asked, with a grin. She nodded, a look of terror clear on her face. "Alright," He said. "Down it is." He loosened his arms, pretending to drop her and the look of terror on her face grew as her arms tightened around him trying to hold on. He laughed as he put her back down on the ground and held her close as she tried to struggle away from him. Eventually her struggle stopped and she laced her fingers through his as they continued around the ice.

Lindsay laughed as Danny came up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "You alright, Montana?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'm good."

* * *

**St. Luke's Hospital Cafeteria  
Manhattan, New York  
October 26, 2006  
8:51 PM**

"Hey Liv," Christina Parker, a good friend of Liv's from work, greeted loudly and linked her arm through Liv's , as Liv walked into the cafeteria. "Let's go over sit over here for dinner tonight."

"Uh ok," Liv said. Christina was a bit too insistent for this to be completely normal. "Hey, wait a minute!" She exclaimed. "Didn't you already eat tonight?"

"Oh my gosh, you're right." Christina said. She smacked her forehead. "I totally forgot. Well, I guess I'll just go back to work." And with that, the red head pulled away from her friend and walked toward the door.

Liv watched her friend walk away suspiciously, and then shrugged and turned back around. A smile graced her face as she did so.

"Hey," She walked over to her boyfriend and stood up on her tip-toes to give him a small kiss.

"Hi," Hawkes said, wrapping his arms around her. "Knew you were working late tonight, figured I'd bring by dinner. Spend some time with you."

She smiled. "That sounds nice." She looked around his body to see the big brown bag on the table. "So what'd you bring?"

"Chinese." He told her.

"Good choice." She smiled.

"Thanks," Hawkes said, pulling out a chair for her. "Ready to eat?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

God, he was a sweetheart.

* * *

**Starbucks Coffee  
Manhattan, New York  
October 27, 2006  
8:45 AM**

"I want to meet this girl." Ally Ross told her brother. "The one who has you so entranced."

Adam rolled his eyes at his sister. "I am not entranced." Ally was three years older than him but it sometimes seemed like he was the older sibling or they were the same age. The two siblings were extremely close; Adam suspected it had something to do with them trying to deal with their abusive step-father.

"Yes," Ally said. "You are. Entranced, it's a good word." Ally teased, picking up her coffee. She tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. "So why haven't you done anything about it?"

Adam shook his head. "She doesn't like me like that." He told her. "We're friends."

"Yeah, uh huh." Ally said. "And I'm the queen of England."

Adam rolled his eyes. "You're ridiculous." He told her. "Absolutely ridiculous." He teased. "Almost as ridiculous as someone else I know." He called out a little louder.

"Are you talking about me?" Ally asked, her brown eyes widening.

"No, he'd be talking about me." Ellie said, joining the two. She turned to Adam. "I can take a hint."

Adam laughed. "Ally, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is my sister, Ally." Ellie's eyes lit up almost immediately.

"Hi," She said. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Yeah," Ally teased. "It's nice to finally meet you too. I've heard so much about you." She shot a sly look at her brother.

Ellie laughed. "I've heard a lot about you too."

"So," Adam said, trying to turn the topic away from him. "Got any plans for your big day off El?"

She nodded. "Dal's taking us to Javier for a spa afternoon."

"Alright, I'm officially jealous." Ally said. "Javier? How'd you get in?"

Ellie smiled good naturedly. "My best friend's a model. She gets in, thus we get in. Really, I had nothing to do with it."

Ally laughed as she turned to her brother. "I like her. Let's keep her around."

Adam smiled at Ellie before turning to his sister. "Yeah, she's pretty great."

* * *

**Javier  
Manhattan, New York  
October 27. 2006  
2:33 PM**

"Javier!" Dallas exclaimed loudly as she, Lindsay, Stella, Ellie, and Liv entered the lobby of the exclusive spa.

"Dallas Buchanan, _querida_, se mira absolutamente hermosa." _Darling, you look absolutely gorgeous. _The tall, flamboyant Hispanic man, Javier, walked over, swinging his hips as he did so. He grabbed Dallas's hands and pulled her in, kissing both of her cheeks. "Ok, let's go girlies. You and you, Olivia and Elizabeth" He pointed to Liv and Ellie. "Room Fresco. Go." The two girls scurried off down the hallway on the left.

"God I love his accent." Dallas closed her eyes and placed her hand over her heart.

"Amen." Stella agreed.

"Querida, you have brought me a new beautiful woman." Javier took Stella's hand in his and pulled it to his mouth, pressing a gentle kiss to the top. "And our fabulous new client gets the fabulous new client package."

"Ok, I'm in love." Stella said.

Javier smiled. "Excellent, happy clients, happy clients. Now, you three, Room Libre. Clothes OFF, robes ON."

"Ohh kinky." Dallas smirked.

"You and your filthy mind." Javier flicked her nose with his index finger. "You and you, Lindsay and Stella, will be with Talinga first. She'll get you all fixed up." He turned to Dallas. "You, my dear, are with me." He waggled his eyebrows. "I know how you _hate_ regular massages so I have prepared for you…drum roll please…" He waited patiently while she tapped out a beat on her thighs. "a hot stone massage combined with aromatherapy."

"If only you were straight." Dallas deadpanned.

"The world couldn't handle me straight." Javier said. "Las chicas would be all over me, all the time." The group laughed. "Now go. Room Libre. You three will meet up with the other two later for mudbath, Jacuzzi, and Steam room. Vayan!"

* * *

**Javier  
Manhattan, New York  
October 27, 2006  
5:48 PM**

"Never until this day have I understood what someone meant when they said that a good pedicure was like good sex." Stella said, , as she, Lindsay, Dallas, Ellie, Liv, and Javier made their way out the Steam Room, at the back of the spa. "But now I totally get it."

"Talinga's incredible, isn't she?" Liv asked.

"But not as great as you Javier!" Ellie teased.

"Javier, if I'm not married by the time I'm 35, we're gonna get married, ok?" Dallas said.

"And what do I get out of this?" Javier asked. "I understand why you would want to marry me, I mean, I'm fabulous."

"And modest too," Stella teased.

"But why," Javier continued. "Why on _Earth_ would I want to marry you?"

"Well," Dallas said. "Let's face it. I am gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous."

"True," Javier said. "But so am I." He grinned.

"Yes," Dallas said, her eyes sparkling. "But the top fashion designers in the world are after me."

"And _that_," Javier said. "is why I'll marry you if you're not married by the time your 35."

"Is Don going to be upset that you're planning your wedding to another guy?" Ellie teased.

Dallas shrugged. "Who says Don has to know?"

Stella laughed. "Secret's safe with us."

And so, the spa day ended, on a high note, sealing the friendship of five women.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading, everyone. What did we think?**


	7. I'm an Idiot? No Arguments Here

**A/N: Wow, it's been a little while. Sorry about the wait! Ok, so thank you for the reviews, you guys are awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

_Spoilers: Consequences 3x08...oh and also a small mention from Grey's Anatomy_ _3x06 Let the Angels Commit

* * *

_**Lindsay's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November, 8, 2006  
9:35 AM**

"Good morning." Lindsay grinned from the table, as Dallas entered the kitchen.

Dallas yawned. She reached her hands up in the air and arched her back. After a satisfying crack (and a flinch from Lindsay), she lowered her hands and responded to her best friend. "Morning."

Lindsay waited patiently while Dallas poured herself some coffee and grabbed a bowl for her cereal. "So, why'd you stay here last night?" Lindsay asked.

Dallas didn't respond and instead looked down at her cereal. "It doesn't matter." She said, finally.

"Yes," Lindsay said. "It does. You wouldn't have come here if something wasn't wrong. So, what was it? Your dad? Step-dad? Your Mom call?"

"None of the above." Dallas said, recognizing that Lindsay wouldn't let this issue go.

"Then what was it?" Lindsay asked.

Dallas shrugged. "I don't know. I was walking home from Liv's, and it wasn't even that late, you know?" Lindsay nodded. It was true. It had barely been 8:00 when Dallas had shown up at the door. "But I was walking and I had this strange feeling that someone was following me. And I looked and I didn't see anybody so I kept going but I still felt like someone was following me."

"So you came here." Lindsay said.

Dallas nodded. "Yeah, you were closest."

"So it wasn't because I made you feel safest," Lindsay teased.

Dallas shook her head. "Nah, I would have gone to Don's if it was closer but…" She trailed off.

"Speaking of Don," Lindsay said softly.

"NO!" Dallas exclaimed. "No way no way no _way_."

"Why not?" Lindsay asked.

"Because he'd flip!" Dallas said. "He will freak. No, we're not telling him. It doesn't happen that often. Only once in a while…"

"Wait, hang on." Lindsay said. "This has happened _before?_"

Dallas froze, realizing what she said. Then she nodded. "Yeah, but like I said, only once in a while."

"You have to tell him that." Lindsay said.

Dallas shook her head. "No, I'm not telling him. It's not consistent. It doesn't happen all the time. It's not even once a week." She said.

Lindsay frowned. "I'm telling him. He deserves to know."

"You're not telling him." Dallas said. "I haven't told Danny about…"

Lindsay's eyes narrowed. "That's completely different and you know it."

Dallas shrugged. "You're not telling him. That's final. Don doesn't need to know about this."

"Yet," Lindsay said. "Don doesn't need to know about this yet. I'll keep it quiet for now. But you have to promise me, no complaints, _promise_ me," Lindsay talked a bit louder to overpower her friend's protests. "that as soon as it happens more often or more consistently, you have to tell me." Dallas nodded. "And Don." Lindsay added.

Dallas bit her lip. "Deal," She said finally.

* * *

**Warehouse  
Manhattan, New York  
November 8, 2006  
9:35 AM**

"They build these balloons in sections and divide them into compartments." Mac said.

"That would explain the limp arm." Hawkes said.

"Bullet's somewhere inside all that polyurethane." Mac said. "Thought you might want to do the autopsy." He sent Hawkes a small smile. "For old times' sake." He clapped Hawkes on the shoulder as he walked away.

Hawkes chuckled. "This job is never boring." And he quickly got to work.

With the exception of the autopsy on the Macy's Day Parade Float (it would potentially be one less this year), it seemed to be a routine case. Some bullet wounds to the chest of a so far unidentified male dressed in paintball gear. A look around the warehouse yielded some evidence and Hawkes discovered a bullet during his autopsy.

Danny and Stella's look around the alley outside yielded some interesting results, including a missing paintballer. There were two colors of paint and a couple different types of trace. Theories were bounced off of each other, but nothing too serious.

Flack's interviews with the neighbors were even less helpful. Between the annoying people and the crazy ones, he was pretty fed up by the time he returned to the precinct. So, it was all pretty much routine.

Until Sid started looking at the body.

* * *

**Mac's Office  
Manhattan, New York  
November 8, 2006  
12:10 PM**

"Cyrus Menlo is MIA." Stella said, placing a poster of Cyrus on Mac's desk.

"We got half of NYPD looking for him," Flack said. "None of his teammates or his family have seen him since yesterday."

"His father is adamant that Cyrus wouldn't have done something like this." Stella said. "He was even willing to give us a piece of his clothing. DNA from the epithelials was a match to the blood Danny found in the green paint."

"I guess Mr. Menlo doesn't know how competitive his son is." Mac said.

Lindsay entered. "Hey, the black trace that Sid found on the gunshot wound of Kym Tanaka…"

"Is not gunshot residue." Mac finished.

"Adam?" Lindsay said with a grin.

"Yeah, he got the same negative results from trace I collected off the crate at the scene."

"So if it's not GSR?" Flack prompted.

"It's black cocaine." Lindsay said. "It's produced by mixing pure cocaine with therachloride or iron and thyocyanate. "

"Those chemicals turn the white cocaine powder to purple or black," Mac said. "to make them undetectable in field drug tests or by drug sniffing dogs."

"They usually hide and ship those drugs in printer toner cartridges." Stella explained.

"Get outta here." Flack said. "You gotta have a masters degree in chemistry to run drugs these days." He kidded.

"Lindsay," Mac said. "Check our narcotics database. Maybe we can track the origin of the coke or connect it to any previous seizures by its chemical make up. Flack, see if you can get us a warrant to search those boxes in the warehouse." He paused. "I'm thinking our vic walked into a big money drug buy."

Flack nodded. "And he got stiffed."

"Well that explains what happened to Kym Tanaka but where's Cyrus Menlo?" Stella asked.

Unfortunately, no one had an answer yet.

* * *

**Breakroom  
Manhattan, New York  
November 8, 2006  
1:38 PM**

"Lindsay," She heard Mac call her name and so she lifted her head off of her hand and tore her eyes away from the results.

"Yeah," She asked.

"You ok?" Mac asked, concern laced in his tone.

"I ran the chemical profile of the black cocaine against our internal database." Lindsay said, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I got a match." She sounded upset about something.

Mac took the papers. "Well usually that's a good thing."

"Drugs with the exact same chemical make-up as the trace we found at the warehouse confiscated in a raid six months ago. They were held in NYPD evidence and then destroyed. All 5o kilos."

"And you double checked this?" Mac said.

"Mac, I triple checked it and it's a highly unique blend of cocaine."

"Now, we're finding traces of that same drug in a warehouse."

"And I spoke with two DEA agents both of whom witnessed the incineration of the drugs and the mixing agents. Even if someone had the recipe and the ingredients, there's no way they could have come up with the exact same chemical profile."

"I guess our guys at the raid didn't get the whole stash." Mac said. "You have the arrest report?" Lindsay nodded and passed the folder over. Mac flipped through the pages, now understanding her glum tone. "The lead detective credited with the bust was Flack." He put the papers on the table and walked out of the room.

* * *

**A Coffee Cart  
Manhattan, New York  
November, 8, 2006  
2:02 PM**

"It's ridiculous."Flack said, as he paid the vendor and picked up their coffees. "Seriously, the guy reached in and _took out_ the bullet."

Dallas scrunched up her face as she took her latte from him. "Ew, that's gross."

He laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She, in return, wrapped her arm around him, pulling herself closer to him. It was awfully cold for early November and, while Dallas wasn't a big fan of winter, she (and Don too) did enjoy snowboarding, and it seemed to be turning into a good winter for that.

She had just opened her mouth to ask him something when Mac came up to them. "Dallas," He greeted. She smiled at him. He gave her a small smile back and then turned to Flack. "Can I ask you something for some background on the case?" Don nodded. "What do you know about a drug bust featuring black cocaine six months ago?"

"I'll just go do…something…over…well anywhere but here." Dallas said. But Don didn't let go of her and Mac made no notice that she was even there.

"It was a good raid." Don said. "We got everything."

"You're sure?" Mac asked.

"It was a dingy little apartment out there in Brooklyn over by the 77th. We arrested three guys, confiscated 50 kilos of cocaine, all the cutting agents. We searched the apartment, found several Glocks on the kitchen table, all the expected drug paraphernalia."

"Did you find the drugs?" Mac asked.

"I was in the kitchen." Don said. "Drugs were hidden in the mattress in the bedroom."

"What detective found the drugs?" Mac asked.

Don thought for a moment. "Can't remember." She shook his head.

"And you're sure it was just 50 kilos?" Mac said. Dallas frowned; to her, this was starting to sound a little more than background information about a case.

Don apparently thought so too. "Yeah, we didn't miss anything, Mac." He said. "Why, what's going on?"

"We found traces of cocaine at the warehouse last night. The same chemical make up as the cocaine found in your raid."

"Ok," Don said.

"50 kilos along with cutting agents were evidenced and those same 50 kilos were destroyed." Mac said. "If the drugs were recovered and then burned, then that doesn't add up."

"If?" Don said and Dallas could tell he was starting to get defensive. "Did you say if?"

"Don, I'm sure Mac's just trying to do his job." Dallas said, trying to play peacemaker.

Don ignored her. "You think there was more cocaine from that raid and someone, one of my guys, skimmed from the stash?"

"Just asking questions, Don." Mac said.

"No, you're not just asking questions," Don said. "Mac, come on, I know you. You wouldn't be here talking to me if you hadn't already tracked the chain of custody, checked with property and called the DEA agents." He paused. "And let me tell you something. Cocaine from that raid wouldn't last 6 months on the street. So what is this? My interrogation?"

"Don, come on." Dallas said.

"You're overreacting." Mac said.

"Well maybe I am!" Don exclaimed, defensively. "Let me save you a little bit of time. None of my guys took a thing." This was the point where Dallas felt Mac should have just taken Don's word, gone back to the evidence, and then come back to Don later, should he get more proof or reason. Mac, however, clearly did not feel the same way.

"You can't be sure of that!" Mac said. "You weren't there. You just said you didn't remember ."

"It didn't happen Mac." Don said.

Mac nodded and Dallas breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he was dropping it. "You're listed on the DV-5 as the recorder of the scene." Dallas groaned. Or maybe not. "You had to take everything down in your memo book. Every detective who was there, who searched the rooms, who found the drugs."

"You asking me for it?" Don asked.

"You can check your notes or you can let me." Mac said.

Don nodded. "Is this official business?"

"It's a request," Mac said. "From a friend."

"Then I'm gonna have to think about it." Don said, and with that pulled away from Dallas, and walked away.

Dallas shot Mac a look of helplessness and then chased after her boyfriend. "Don, wait." He stopped walking until she caught up, but did not turn around.

"You ok?" Dallas asked, once she caught up with him.

Don shook her head. "I can't believe he'd ask me that."

"Don, he's just trying to piece everything together." Dallas said.

Don stopped walking and turned to her. "Whose side are you on?" He accused.

"I'm on yours." She cried. "Don, just calm down for a second and think about it. Mac's just trying to do his job. He has evidence, now he needs to figure out what to do with it. It's what he does."

Don, clearly, was still angry. "Yeah, ok, whatever."

"Don," Dallas put her hand on his bicep.

"I can't believe you're …you're _agreeing_ with him!" Don exclaimed.

"Seriously?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Whatever. I gotta go."

"Fine," Dallas turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Mac was right; Don was way overreacting.

* * *

**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November, 8, 2006  
9:29 PM**

The knocking continued. Dallas sighed as she swung her legs off of her couch and pulled herself up. The knocking had started roughly three to five minutes ago and she had ignored whoever it was, hoping they would go away. Of course, her day going the way it was, they weren't leaving.

Her fight with Don had left her mad and annoyed. She had tried just ignoring it, but that hadn't worked out. She reorganized her entire apartment, hoping to get her frustration out, but, while her apartment was now well organized, she has still been feeling frustrated with Don. So her next idea had been to change into some workout clothes and head to the gym.

A couple hours at the gym had done the trick, but she was exhausted now, and had immediately come home and showered. She pulled on a pair of navy sweatpants and an old, tiny, white t-shirt, left her hair loose in hopes that it would dry, and had curled up in front of the TV, watching Grey's Anatomy from the week before.

The knocking had interrupted Grey's Anatomy and Dallas was quite comfortable where she was. But the knocking continued, so Dallas made her way to the door and swung it open.

"I'm an idiot?" Don offered.

She raised her eyebrows. "No arguments here." But she stepped aside, so he could come in.

He walked into her apartment. He clearly hadn't come straight from work; he was wearing jeans and he had a t-shirt on under his zip-up hoodie. "I've been walking around for a little." He said. "Got home from work, tried to go to sleep, and couldn't do it."

She couldn't keep herself from laughing. "It's barely 9:30. That's pretty early to be in bed."

Don smiled at her, thankful that she wasn't too mad at him. "I gave Mac my memo book."

She stood on the tips of her toes and looped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around her; he was glad for the comfort she was giving. "I know it might not seem like it," Dallas said, pulling slightly away from him. "but it was the right thing to do."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I know. I just keep thinking of the consequences, and all those guys, the murderers and rapists and dealers and molesters that are gonna get off because _I_ gave my memo book to Mac."

Dallas looked up at him. She was tall, but so was he, and without shoes he towered over her. "You can't think like that." She told him. "Think of the families or the teenagers that were saved because _that cop_, who's supposed to protect us, is selling drugs to get a little extra cash for himself."

Don didn't respond to that statement. Instead, he reached over, brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face, and said, "I'm sorry about this afternoon." He reached for her hand and laced his fingers in hers. "I was mad at Mac and I took it out on you."

"It's ok," Dallas told him.

"It's not." He told her. "I was a jerk. And I'm sorry."

"It's ok." She told him. "Really, Don, it's fine." She laced their fingers together again. "Now come on, George and Addison's patient has two uteruses, is pregnant with two babies from two guys and her husband doesn't know that only one of the kids is his!" Dallas pulled him away from the door and toward her couch.

Don groaned as Dallas led him to the couch. He sat down next to her and kissed the top of her head once she laid it on his chest, as he wrapped his arm around her.

God, she was amazing.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so a really Don/Dallas focused chapter but don't worry. We have some Hawkes/Liv drama coming up because of the way I'm going through season 3. We also have some Danny and Lindsay moments and a development on the Adam/Ellie front. I hope everyone else is as excited about that as I am!**

**Reviews?  
**


	8. You Found the Bubblegum Pink Nail Polish

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing guys. **

**I had a message from a reader, asking if there's people I pictured when I made up Liv, Ellie and Dallas, wanting to know what the three girls looked like. Ok, so here it is. I picture Liv looking like an actress named Kerry Washington. I picture Ellie looking like Kate Hudson and I picture Dallas as Alessandra Ambrosio. I'll put links to pictures on my profile so anyone interested can look. I hope that helps anyone who had trouble picturing the girls! **

**So, Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except OC's.

* * *

****Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 9, 2006  
8:53 AM**

Dallas Buchanan was not the type of person who was able to hop right out of bed once she woke up. She liked to curl up, snuggle back into her pillow, and relax peacefully for a couple of minutes.

Today was no exception. Upon realizing she was awake, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly and snuggled back into her pillow. Until she realized that her pillow was a little harder than she was used to. Her eyes snapped open.

Don chuckled. "Morning." He said. She was lying on top of him, his arms wrapped around her.

She inhaled slowly and then let out her breath as she propped herself up on her elbows to look at him. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long." Don said.

"Bull," Dallas said.

He grinned. "Yeah, how do you know?"

"Just a guess." She smiled.

"Only about fifteen, twenty minutes." Don said truthfully.

"You've been watching me sleep for twenty minutes!" Dallas exclaimed.

"Ehh," He said. "More like fifteen."

She shot him a look. "Why?" She asked. "What was so interesting about watching me sleep that you just laid here for twenty minutes."

"It was fifteen minutes," Don said. "You're cute when you sleep." He teased.

"I'm cute?" Dallas raised her eyebrows.

"You're absolutely beautiful." Don said, losing his bit of teasing and being much more serious. "Your hair falls in your face, like this," He reached his hand up and gently played with the few strands of hair that were dangling around her face. "And you have this tiny little smile on your face and your nose scrunches up," She scrunched her nose up at his description. He laughed. "Yeah, just like that. And you're quiet and you look so peaceful." He tucked the strand of hair he had been playing with behind her ear. "And you look absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful."

Dallas smiled at him, leaning forward and kissing him softly. "Thank you." She said sincerely.

He leaned forward and captured her lips again. Pulling away, he gently began rubbing his fingers on the skin of her lower back, where her t-shirt had rode up during the night. "I'm off today," He told her. "Wanna grab some breakfast?"

She nodded, but instead of getting up and put her head back on his chest. "Five more minutes." She begged.

He laughed and only continued running his fingers along her lower back. Soon, he felt her move around a little and knew she was ready to get up.

"Ok, let me go change and then we'll stop by your place so you can change." Dallas said.

"Dal, I need to talk to…"Ellie burst into the apartment, a large paper brown bag in hand. She caught sight of Don, wearing a now wrinkled t-shirt and jeans. "Never mind, it can wait." She grinned at the pair.

Dallas groaned. "No, El, it's not what it looks like."

Ellie laughed. "Yeah, ok Dal. Whatever you say." She paused. "Anyway, since Flack has already claimed you for breakfast, can I have dibs on lunch?" She looked at Dallas pointedly. "Because I really do need to talk to you about something."

Dallas nodded. "Panera at 1?"

"See you then." Ellie grinned. She turned to Don. "Nice work!" With a wave, she walked back out the door.

Dallas turned to her boyfriend. "I apologize for her," She said, before walking into her room to change.

* * *

**Billy's Bakery  
Manhattan, New York  
November 9, 2006  
9:19 AM**

"Hey guys!" Dallas greeted Hawkes and Liv, who were sitting at a booth near the front.

"Hey," Liv greeted. She and Hawkes had made plans for breakfast today, knowing that they both had busy schedules coming up and wouldn't be able to have large chunks of time together. But they could use some company today. "Wanna sit?"

Dallas looked at Don, who gestured for her to sit down. Dallas slid into the booth, closely followed by Don, and they picked up menus from the end of the table.

Their waitress, a sweet older woman named Julie, came over to the table and took orders. She assured them that the food would not take too long, but the group didn't care; they all had a good bit of time before they had to be anywhere.

After some talking, there was a calm lull in the conversation. It was quickly broken by Dallas, who groaned. "I have to work tomorrow."

"Whoop de freakin' doo." Liv said.

"Ok, Oh-_livia_." Dallas mock-glared at her friend. "No, I'm serious. My day is rough tomorrow. I have to wake up, meet all the girls for yoga for tomorrow. Then, I have to go shower and then go meet at the Armory over on Lexington for hours upon hours of getting dressed, fixing hair, touching up make-up, and walking up the stage and back down the stage." Dallas sighed dramatically. "I'll be walking all day long. It'll be exhausting!"

"Imagine if you had to do that all day every day." Liv teased.

"Oh," Dallas said, pretending to think about what her friend said. "You're right." The two girls laughed.

"What are you working on now?" Hawkes asked. "That requires you to walk up the stage and back down the stage for hours upon hours."

"The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show." Dallas said. "The show's coming up and it requires a lot of rehearsal."

"Really?" Hawkes said.

She nodded. "Well, yeah, it doesn't just come together by itself." She teased. "But I have been meaning to ask you guys," She turned a bit so that she was facing both Flack and Hawkes. "Would you be interested in _going_ to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show?" She and Ellie were instantly awarded with the looks on their boyfriends' faces.

"Are you serious?" Flack asked, once he had finally recovered.

"Yeah," Dallas nodded. "All of you. You two, Danny, Adam. Mac if he wants to come."

"Well, I'm in." Don answered immediately.

Hawkes looked a little torn. It was clear he wanted to go, but wasn't sure how his girlfriend would feel about it.

Luckily for him, she seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Go." Liv said. "It's awesome. They always put on a good show. Trust me, I've gone before, you'll have a great time."

Dallas nodded. "We are pretty awesome."

"And modest too." Don teased.

"Coming from you," Dallas said, reaching for her phone which was vibrating on the table. "that means nothing." She motioned for him to move out of the booth. "Excuse me, I'm gonna take this outside." As Don helped her out of the booth, she answered. "Hey, it's Dallas."

Don sat back down and slid all the way in as Hawkes turned to Liv and asked, "How'd she get into modeling for Victoria's Secret anyway?" Don looked at them curiously; this was a story he had never heard before.

"Well," Liv said, after thinking for a moment. "I guess you have to start at True Religion before you can get to Victoria's Secret." She paused. "You see, Dal, Linds, Ellie, and I were shopping one day, freshman year right after we met, at the mall. And Ellie, who could afford to buy $200 jeans drags us into True Religion and demands we all try a pair on." Liv smiled at the memory. "So we all try a pair on and then come out of the dressing room and Dal's dancing around to the music." She took a sip of her coffee. "And this guy comes up to us and starts freaking out because he's found the face of the new line. He's going on and on about how he needs Dal to do it because she's absolutely perfect and she's just what he's looking for and a whole bunch of other stuff."

"But what does this have to do with Victoria's Secret?" Hawkes asked.

"I'm getting there." Liv said. "Patience. Now, where was I?" She paused. "Oh, right. So Dal tells him that she doesn't want to do it and he _begs_ her to just meet with him. Tells her that if she meets with him and still doesn't want to do it, then she doesn't have to, but he just wants to sit down and talk with her for a little. And Ellie tells him that 'of course Dallas will come meet with you' and Dal gets annoyed but agrees to go anyway."

Liv took a breath. "So, she goes to the meeting and the guy starts talking and she's all set to say no, but then she saw how much they offered just for that one shoot." She turned to Don. "And you know that she didn't have money then, right?" Don nodded. Liv turned toward her boyfriend. "So she's trying to put herself through school working at a bar because her parents used up everything in her college fund for their drugs and their alcohol. For that one shoot, she'd have enough money to pay for the entire first year of school and most of the second. Just that one shoot." Hawkes' eyes widened. "Yeah," Liv said. "Dal, obviously, takes the job. She does the shoot and True Religion loves her. They offer her a permanent contract to be the spokes model, which she still is."

Liv shrugged. "And while she's doing work for True Religion, she's getting calls from all these other companies who want her, including Victoria's Secret. This will be her seventh year with Victoria's Secret; she started there when she was 19. " Liv shrugged again. "Company offered Angel status in '02 and Dal's kept that status since. She does the PINK line now too."

"That's impressive." Hawkes said.

"It's pretty cool." Liv said. "Well I think it is. She gets discovered by just dancing around a store."

At that moment, Dallas came back into the restaurant, looking thrilled. "Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" She squealed, and began jumping up and down excitedly. Nearby people began to look at her, but she didn't seem to care.

"Oh!" Hawkes exclaimed. "You won the lottery." Dallas shook her head.

"You found that retired Bubblegum Pink nail polish you've been looking for?" Don guessed. Dallas shook her head again and continued jumping.

"Ohh, I know!" Liv said. "You finally learned how to snap your fingers!" Dallas attempted to snap her fingers while continuing to jump. She frowned when no noise was made.

"Damn," Liv said. "I thought for sure that was it." Hawkes laughed.

"I got it!" Don said. "You get to wear the Fantasy Bra in the show next week."

Dallas stopped jumping and looked at him. "How'd you know?"

"I was kidding." Don told her. Hawkes and Liv laughed.

"No, I'm serious." Dallas said. She held up her phone. "That's what they just called to tell me. I'm wearing the Fantasy Bra next week."

Everyone burst into laughter as she sat down next to Don. He put his arm around her, offering congratulations to her.

Her response: "How do you know what the Fantasy Bra is?"

"Everyone knows what the Fantasy Bra is," Hawkes scoffed.

"I didn't know what is was at first." Liv said.

"Let me rephrase." Hawkes said. "Every _guy_ knows what the Fantasy Bra is."

And nothing more was said on the topic because their breakfasts arrived.

**

* * *

Outside Billy's Bakery  
Manhattan, New York  
November 9, 2006  
10:35 AM**

"And they're off," Hawkes said, about Dallas and Don who had gone in the other direction to search for Dallas's niece's birthday present. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"Good." Liv said, leaning toward her boyfriend a bit. "They talk too much." She teased.

"I don't think it's so much him." Hawkes said. "More her."

Liv laughed. "Yes," She agreed. "Dallas does love to talk."

Hawkes nodded and laughed. "So, what are your plans for Saturday night?"

Liv thought for a minute. "I work until five. Why?"

"My parents are coming down to the city and I was going to have dinner with them." Hawkes stopped walking and turned to face Liv. "And I wondered if you might like to come with us."

"I would love to come with you and meet your parents," Liv said. "Gosh, I hope they like me."

Hawkes laughed. "They'll love you; I promise."

"Ok," Liv said. "I'll take your word for it." And she stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him.

**

* * *

Panera Bread  
Manhattan, New York  
November 9, 2006  
1:04 PM**

"You're late." Ellie snapped when Dallas joined her friend. The blonde had been stressing all morning long and was now bursting to tell Dallas and get her opinion.

Dallas checked the time on her phone. "By five minutes, chill out."

"I can't." Ellie said. "I'm freaking out." She ate a bite of her soup.

"Well let me go get lunch and we'll talk, ok?" Without waiting for a response, Dallas left to place her order. Soon she returned, food in hand, and sat down. "Ok, go ahead."

"Adam kissed me last night." Ellie said.

Dallas dropped her spoon.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did we think? Did you like it? No Danny and Lindsay this chapter, but I promise there will be next time. **


	9. I'll Say Something Nice at Your Funeral

**A/N: Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed. I'm sorry that it's been so long. It's been really busy for me lately and I just didn't have time to really sit down and work on this. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.

* * *

****Panera Bread  
Manhattan, New York  
November 9, 2006  
1:09PM**

"He what?" Dallas asked.

"Adam," Ellie said slower. "Kissed. Me. Last. Night."

"Where?" Dallas asked, beginning to speak rapidly. "What were you doing? Where were you? What was he doing? Was it sweet? Was he good? What happened? What were you wearing?"

Ellie laughed and, in a way only a best friend could, answered all Dallas's questions. "Sullivan's. We were out at the bar. We were at the bar, in a corner. He was drinking and talking. I was drinking and listening. It was super sweet. He was extremely good. He kissed me. And my green off shoulder top, dark wash skinny jeans, and black high heeled boots."

"Cute!" Dallas exclaimed. "But you look stressed. What's the problem? If he was so good and so sweet?"

"The problem?" Ellie said. "The problem is that he was drunk when it happened. We met for coffee this morning and he actually doesn't even remember it at all."

"That jackass!" Dallas cried. A woman at the table next to them, sitting with her three young children, glared at her. "Eu não posso acreditar que o babaca que fez (I can't believe that f-ing jerk did that)."

"Back to English please." Ellie said. "I can't speak Spanish or Italian or Portuguese or French or whatever one of those many languages you can speak that you just spoke."

"Portuguese." Dallas said. "I just…I can't believe he did that. Go over everything from this morning."

"He was drunk." Ellie said emotionlessly. "Really really drunk. And I knew it. He leaned in and kissed me. And I just…I don't know, you know how much I like him. He was kissing me and I couldn't help myself. I kissed him back." Dallas shot her friend a sympathetic smile. "And then we walked home and we met for coffee this morning, like we always do on Thursdays. And I walk in, get my coffee and sit down next to him." Ellie stopped talking.

"Go on,' Dallas encouraged, as she took a bite of her macaroni and cheese.

"And he's all like 'man, I am so hungover right now' and I'm like 'ohh that's too bad' and he's like 'yeah, I drank way too much' and I really didn't say anything and so he just continues saying 'was I really bad? I don't even remember anything that happened. I'm sorry. For whatever I put you through last night.'" Ellie stirred her uneaten soup. "I seriously almost cried, Dal."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dallas asked gently. "When he told you that he didn't remember. It would have fit right in the conversation."

"I couldn't do it." Ellie said. "I just couldn't do it. What if he didn't like me?"

Dallas reached across the table and picked up her friend's hand. "It'll all be ok. Really, it will."

* * *

**Crime Lab Break Room  
Manhattan, New York  
November 9, 2006  
5:49 PM**

"Hey Montana," Danny greeted, carrying two bags of food.

Lindsay looked up from the memo she had been reading. "Oh, hey Danny." She said. He placed one of the bags of food in front of her and she looked up at him, confused. "What's this?" She asked.

"Open it." Danny told her, sitting down next to her and opening the other bag of food.

She peered inside the bag, then looked over at him. Her eyes were sparkling as she said, "You bought us Indian food for dinner?"

"Us?" Danny said, raising his eyebrows. "No no no, I brought _you_ Indian food for dinner. I got me some Italian food."

"Danny!" Lindsay said. "You didn't have to go to two places to get dinner. I know you don't like Indian food; you could have just gotten Italian for both of us."

Danny shrugged. "You had a tough day." He said. "And I know it's your favorite." He added. "It wasn't a big deal." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He hadn't known she was going to make such a big deal out of such a small thing.

"Thank you." Lindsay said. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "That's really sweet of you."

And he didn't say anything because he knew he didn't have to. She knew what he was thinking and he knew what she was thinking and both knew what was between them.

"But unfortunately," Lindsay thought, "it only makes it a hell of a lot harder to not tell him."

* * *

**Dos Caminos  
Manhattan, New York  
November 11, 2006  
7:28 PM**

"You look nervous," Hawkes noted aloud.

"I'm meeting your parents." Liv told him, shivering slightly. She pulled her coat, which hid all but about two inches of her black and white printed, knee-length dress.

"And that's something to worry about?" Hawkes teased his girlfriend.

Liv gave him a look that said she clearly thought he was crazy. "They're your _parents_." She said. "Of course it's something to worry about."

"Well don't" He told her. "They'll love you, I promise." Liv looked up at him skeptically. "Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?" He said.

"Nice try," She said, knowing he was trying to get her focus off of his parents. "But thank you." She turned on her heels and gave him a small kiss. "Ok, I'm ready Sheldon."

He grinned. "That's the spirit." He opened the door to the Mexican restaurant and gestured for her to enter.

Liv gasped. The restaurant they were in was absolutely beautiful, with intricate designs and gorgeous décor. Sheldon took her hand, and led her back to a table, where two people were sitting talking with a waiter.

The waiter, who smiled and introduced himself as Miguel as soon and Hawkes and Liv sat down, told the group that he would be back in a couple of minutes to take their drink orders.

"Hi Mom," Hawkes leaned across the table to kiss his mother's cheek. "Dad," He greeted his father with a hand shake. "This is Liv."

Liv smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Liv," Sheldon said, "this is my mom, Jackie," The woman waved. "and my dad, John."

"Wow," Liv said, looking back and forth between father and son. "You look _exactly_ like your dad."

"We get that a lot." John said. He turned to his son. "Hope you like what I look like." The table laughed.

"Well you must look like one of your parents," Hawkes told her.

"Nope," Liv shook her head. "I'm adopted, remember?"

Her boyfriend nodded. "Yes, I forgot for a minute."

"Let's look through the menu," Jackie suggested. "We do still need to figure out drinks before he comes back; there will be plenty of time to talk."

Jackie ordered a Calle Fresco margarita and her husband ordered a Dos Equis Lager. Sheldon ordered a Negro Modelo and Liv took a minute to decide between a couple different margaritas, before deciding on the Prickly Pear Cactus Frozen, and making a mental note to come back and try some of the others.

"So, you're adopted." Jackie remarked, after they had ordered all their food.

Liv nodded. "Yes, I am. No I have not met my real parents, and I don't really have a desire to, if they're still alive."

Jackie's eyes widened. "How did you know those were going to be my next questions?"

Everyone laughed. "Mom, those are probably the most common questions she gets when she tells people that she's adopted." Sheldon said.

"It's true," Liv affirmed.

Jackie paused thoughtfully. "I'll have to come up with something completely original then." She waved her hand through the air. "Oh well, I'll think of something before the end of dinner."

"Why don't you tell us how you two met?" John suggested.

"Oh well that's easy." Sheldon said. "You guys remember Danny, right?" John and Jackie nodded. "Well Danny's practically in love with one of Liv's best friends. And when Danny, Flack, Adam, and I went out to lunch one day, we sent Danny to go find a table and he picked the other end of their table."

Liv laughed. "I forgot how they were that day."

"They were pretty funny." Sheldon agreed.

"Tell us more about you." Jackie said. "I want to know everything."

And so Liv talked.

* * *

**Sullivan's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
November 11, 2006  
9:00 PM**

"You're here?" Lindsay looked incredulous. "On time?" She was sitting at a large booth, with Danny, Stella, Mac, Adam, and Ellie, all of whom had drinks sitting in front of them.

"I know!" Dallas exclaimed, as she and Don joined the group, both with beers in their hands. "Isn't it amazing?"

"How did you do that?" Ellie turned to Don, wh0 shrugged. "No, seriously. We've been trying to make her show up to _something_ on time for _years_. And you date her for a _month_ and you've got her showing up on time."

"Unbelievable." Lindsay said.

"Incredible." Ellie added.

"Absolutely." Lindsay agreed.

"Where are Hawkes and Liv tonight?" Adam interrupted, seeing that Ellie was going to continue.

For a reason unknown, Dallas glared at him, but then answered in a perfectly pleasant tone. "She's meeting his parents tonight."

"Wow," Stella raised her eyebrows. "That's…"

She was cut off by Danny. "Crazy." He took a sip of his beer.

"I was going to say cute." Stella said. "But I mean…I guess, crazy works too…"

"No," Lindsay said, looking over directly at Flack. "That's not nearly as crazy as, oh I don't know, meeting Dal's _brothers _tomorrow." She smirked at him.

"I'll get you back for that one." Flack told her. Lindsay only smiled.

"Meeting her brothers?" Danny asked. He laughed. "Well, it's been nice knowin' ya Flack."

"It'll be fine." Dallas said. "It'll all be fine." But even she looked slightly worried.

"That's comforting." Don told his girlfriend, sarcastically.

Dallas laughed. "You'll be fine."

"No you won't." Mac told him.

"How do you know?" Ellie asked. "You've never met her brothers."

"Brothers are brothers." Mac said. "It doesn't matter whose brothers they are; they're still brothers and they're still just looking out for their sister."

"Yeah, but you have sisters." Dallas said to her boyfriend. "So you'll know what's right to say and what's…not right."

"You do have one advantage." Lindsay told him, clearly feeling bad for outing him to the group. "The mean, oldest brother is a New York sports fan. Trust me, that'll really help you."

Dallas nodded. "She's right."

Danny slammed his hands on the table, causing everyone to reach out and steady their drinks. "Alright," He said. "Let's stop talking about this and move onto something else. We know Flack's gonna die tomorrow." Danny turned to his best friend. "I'll say something nice about you at your funeral, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer. "So, the Giants play Chicago this weekend." His last sentence stemmed a conversation between himself, Mac, and Adam, but not Don, who still looked slightly worried.

"Hey," Dallas said softly. She gave him a soft kiss. "Don't worry. You're a nice guy, unlike some people we know." Again, she glared at Adam, but this time only Don noticed her glaring. "You'll be fine."

Don smiled at her, pulling her closer to him, keeping his arm around her shoulder. He bent forward to whisper into her ear. "You gonna tell me why you're glaring at Adam?"

Dallas looked over at Adam, who was joking with Ellie about something. At first glance, she appeared to be perfectly fine. But she was chewing on her nails and anyone who knew her well knew that meant she was upset about something. Judging by the looks Lindsay was giving her, she knew Lindsay knew something was wrong, but Dallas knew she didn't know anything about what had happened two days ago.

"Yeah," Dallas turned to whisper in his ear. "I'll tell you later."

* * *

**A/N: So, we finally had a Danny/Lindsay scene, even if it was short. Next chapter there is definitely some Danny/Lindsay, I promise. But what did we think of this?**


	10. It's Just a Fingerprint

**A/N: Thanks everyone, for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. Here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OC's.**

_Spoilers for 3x09, And Here's to You Mrs. Azrael. You might recognize some of the lines, as they were taken directly from the episode.  


* * *

_**Don's Car  
Manhattan, New York  
November 12, 2006  
2:04 PM**

"And he told her that he had been drunk the night before and he had no clue what he did and apologized for anything he put her through. Oh turn here!" Dallas said.

Don laughed. "Is that it?" He asked.

"Is that _it_?" Dallas asked. "He's breaking her heart!"

"I'm not saying that he isn't." Don said patiently. "But you have to let them work this out."

She grumbled as she told him to park. "It's right there." She pointed to a nice-sized brownstone. He did as she said and parked in a space across the street.

She met him on his side of the car, the presents for her niece and her brother in hand. He took both bags from her and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. She smiled as he did so.

"Nervous?" She asked.

"Little bit." He admitted.

She pushed herself up on the tips of her toes to give him a small kiss. "Don't be. Now come on." She pulled him across the street, up to the door, and in the house.

"Hello?" She called, dragging out the word.

"Aunt Dallas!" A small girl came running toward them. Don knew this to be her niece. With the exception of the hair (which was a caramel color), she looked just like Dallas.

Dallas laughed and bent down to her level to pick the girl up. "Hey Bell. Happy birthday!"

The girl grinned. "Who's 'at?"

"This is Don." Dallas said.

"Is he your boyfriend?" The girl asked. Dallas nodded. The girl turned to Don. "Daddy doesn't like you very much. I don't know why. You seem really nice. My name's Bella."

Don laughed. "It's nice to meet you Bella."

"It's my birthday." Bella said.

"I know," Don told her. "We got you a present."

"Present!" She exclaimed. "Well, come on, let's go. I wanna open it!" Dallas put her niece back on the ground. Bella used one hand to grab Don's hand and the other to grab Dallas's and pulled them toward the inside of the house.

"Bells, calm down," A deep voice said, coming down the stairs. The voice was followed by a man, a man who was quite clearly Dallas's brother. "Let them come in the door."

Dallas stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her brother. Her brother laughed and lifted her up off the floor.

"Down," Dallas said. "Please."

"You sound like my four year old daughter!" Her brother sniggered.

"Hey!" Dallas and Bella protested at the same time, sounding exactly the same. To Don, looking back and forth between them, he could tell that the little girl was going to grow into a woman just like her aunt.

"Oh dear lord, I'm in trouble." Her brother looked up and shook his head. "All right, let's get this over with; who's the bottom feeder?"

Dallas smacked his arm. "Be nice!" She said. "This is Don. Don, this jerk here is my oldest brother, Chris."

"It's good to meet you." Don held out his hand. Chris eyed it warily; before he took it and they shook.

"Good to meet you too." Chris said and Dallas sighed with relief, causing both of them to laugh.

"What, did you think I was gonna kill him or something?" Chris asked his sister, leading the way to the kitchen.

"It wouldn't have surprised me." Dallas shot back and they entered the room. Chris laughed.

"What wouldn't have surprised you?" A woman with the same caramel colored hair as Bella asked, as she stood up and made her way over to the group.

"Chris killing Don." Dallas said as she wrapped her arms around the woman.

"Don?" The woman said. "Don and Dallas. Don and Dallas." She nodded, clearly satisfied. "I like it." She and Dallas burst into laughter.

"That," Chris said dryly. "would be Rachel, my wife."

Don grinned. "Well she seems just about as crazy as my girlfriend."

Chris looked at his sister. "I like him."

Dallas's jaw dropped and that was the face that her younger brother saw as he entered the kitchen.

"What happened?" This brother looked nothing like Dallas and Chris; he had lighter brown hair and green eyes, rather than the dark brown hair and dark brown eyes of Dallas and Chris.

"Chris actually _likes_ Dal's boyfriend." Rachel said.

Her younger brother's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" Dallas and Rachel both nodded. "But…but…but Chris _never_ likes Dal's boyfriends!"

"That's not true!" Chris protested. "I've liked some of them."

"Name one." Rachel said, a smile gracing her beautiful face.

"Uhhh…umm…" Chris stuttured. "Well, there had to have been one."

"Yeah," Dallas said. She pointed at Don. "Don's the first."

"Well he seems like a good guy." Chris said.

Dallas smiled. "He is a good guy."

The younger brother turned to Don. "Hey, I'm Logan."

"Don," Don held his hand out to shake. Logan smiled. "So, it's your birthday too?" Don said.

Logan nodded. "Well, it was. We're a bit late celebrating."

"By like two weeks." Rachel said. "Quit your bellyaching."

Logan stuck his tongue out at her. "Now _you're_ acting like my four year old." Chris said, as he and Dallas laughed.

Dallas turned to her younger brother. "So how's being sixteen?"

Logan nodded. "Good, I guess, I mean, I got my permit, but other than that it's not all that different from being fifteen."

"Nonsense," A dark blonde haired man entered the room, along with a (fake) raven haired girl. "You can drive now. That's what so great about sixteen."

"With a licensed driver over the age of 21." Logan teased. 'But yeah, I guess."

"Hi Naish." Dallas waved.

"Hey Dal," He greeted automatically. Then looked over to see Don next to her. "Hey, you must be the boyfriend." Don nodded. "I'm Naish, Dal's older but not too much older brother." His hazel eyes shined.

"That's Don." Bella said informatively. "He's really nice. Even Daddy thinks so."

Naish picked the girl up. "Well if Daddy doesn't have a problem with him, then he must be a good guy." Naish looked over to him. "But that doesn't mean we won't kill him if he does anything we don't like."

"I second that." Chris shouted from inside the fridge, where he was pulling out beers.

"Just ignore him." The raven haired girl who entered with Naish said. "He's kidding."

"This is Tia." Naish introduced. "Obviously, you know that's Don." He pointed. "That one's my sister, Dallas. Next to her is my sister-in-law, Rachel. My younger brother Logan is next to her. Chris is in the fridge." He pointed around, then came to rest his hand on Bella's nose. "And this beautiful girl right here is the birthday girl, Bella."

"Hi there Bella." Tia cooed in a high pitched voice, causing Dallas, Rachel, Chris, Logan, and Don to all look at each other. Quickly, they all looked away from each other, in fear that they would all start laughing.

"So um, I was thinking pizza for dinner tonight," Rachel said, changing the subject quickly.

"Pizza's good." Dallas answered, and the topic of conversation switched.

* * *

**Trinity Hospital  
Manhattan, New York  
November 15, 2006  
7:48 PM**

"So how were the brothers?" Stella asked, as she and Mac met Flack at the entrance to the elevator.

Flack looked at her amused. "It's been three days since I went there."

"Yeah, I know." Stella said. "But we haven't seen each other since then. Now dish!"

Flack shrugged. "They were fine." Stella shot him a look. "Nah, they're nice guys. We got along as well as three guys who just met their sister's boyfriend could."

Stella shot him a look of half amusement, half confusion, but before she could say anything, Mac cleared his throat. "Flack," He asked pointedly.

"That's Nicole Garner." Flack said. He, Mac, and Stella were standing behind the tape of the crime scene, looking in at the heavily bandage blonde girl. "Nineteen years old." Mac ducked under the tape, beginning to examine. "Code blue was called but she was already gone." Stella ducked under too and stood next to Mac. "Duty nurse found the body."

"…Hemorrhaging." He heard Mac say. "Possible suffocation."

"Pillow could be our murder weapon." Stella offered, looking around the room a bit. She turned to Flack. "Any witnesses?"

"Duty nurse said it was business as usual," Flack said. "Hospital security did report that the doctor's lounge was broken into earlier in the day but that was eight hours ago." He looked back and forth between Mac and Stella.

"Anything stolen?" Mac asked.

"As far as security can tell nothing was swiped," Flack said. "They think it was a junkie looking for meds."

"So what else do we know?" Mac said, going right to business.

"Just the history," Flack recited. "Five days ago, after a night of drinking, Nicole lost control of her car heading home from a SoHo bar. She was in a coma up until yesterday. Apart from being paralyzed from the waist down, the doctor said she was making good progress."

"The kid was given a second chance," Stella said sadly, looking down at Nicole.

"The question is," Mac said, looking over at Nicole, "who didn't think she deserved it?"

* * *

**Trinity Hospital Doctor's Lounge  
Manhattan, New York  
November 15, 2006  
9:32 PM**

"Whoa oh." Danny said, as he and Lindsay met Flack outside the doctor's lounge. "When Hawkes told me you were alive, I didn't believe him." He began circling his best friend.

Flack and Lindsay exchanged awkward looks. Finally, Lindsay spoke. "What…what are you doing?"

Danny stopped circling to look at her. "Looking for bruises. He's obviously not dead. I just don't believe he made it out of there without some kind of injury."

Flack rolled his eyes. "Mac wants you two to process the doctor's lounge. It was broken into earlier and it may have something to do with Nicole Garner's death. After you're done with this, go check in with him and see what he wants you to do. I'm off to do some more interviews." He turned on his heel and walked the other direction. He stopped and turned at the end of the hallway. "Hey, Messer?" Danny and Lindsay both looked over at him. "I can't think of anything right now, but this is where'd I would make some kind of witty comment and leave." He turned the corner.

With a grin, Danny followed Lindsay into the doctor's lounge. "Who breaks into a doctor's lounge?" He asked. She rolled her eyes, but laughed quietly.

After a few moments of both of them looking around, Danny announced. "I got tool marks on the door lock."

"Announce it to the world, why don't ya?" Flack called in, as he passed the open door, headed for the elevator.

"I got scratches on this lock too." Lindsay said. "Let's hope they were made by the same tool." She said, as he came over to her, camera in hand. "And belong to the person who left this print!"

"Beautiful," Danny told her, as he shined the flash light on the door lock.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "It's just a finger print, Danny."

Danny smirked. "Who said I was talkin' bout the print?" He turned around, using the camera again to photograph the door lock he had been looking at before. And it was a good thing he did, for if he hadn't, he would have seen her blush.

* * *

**St. Luke's Hospital Cafeteria  
Manhattan, New York  
November 16, 2006  
8:42 AM**

"Hey," Liv greeted her boyfriend with a small kiss. "You been up all night?"

He nodded. "Bagels and coffee." He gestured to the bag he had placed on the table next to them. But he didn't sit down, and so neither did she.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"What?" He asked, shaking his head. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. It was a rough night." Liv shot him a look. "Ok, fine." He said. "I had to talk to my old boss last night." He paused. "It uh…well let's just say it wasn't my most pleasant experience."

"Anything I can do?" Liv asked.

Sheldon shook his head. "Nah, not unless you can magically tell me who killed Nicole Garner."

Liv shook her head. "Sorry," She said. "but I can do this." She stood on her tippy toes to hug him.

And he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, glad for the comfort she was offering.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did we think?**


	11. An Annual Event

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews last chapter guys. They were awesome. Here's the next chapter: The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs. I don't own CSI:NY or the Victoria's Secret Angels.

* * *

****Lexington Avenue Armory  
Manhattan, New York  
November 17, 2006  
8:02 AM**

"You're la-ate." Dallas's good friend and fellow Angel Alessandra Ambrosio teased as Dallas entered the room where all the other models were waiting to start the last rehearsals before the show that night.

"Barely." Dallas said, throwing her coat and bag down on a chair nearby.

"Yeah, she's only two minutes late." Adriana Lima added teasingly. "You know, compared to the twenty minutes we usually have to wait for her."

"It's the boyfriend." Dallas said. "He's always on time for everything. He makes me strive to at least be close to on time now; I feel bad making him wait."

"This guy is way impressive." Selita Ebanks added.

"Anyone who gets Dallas Buchanan where she needs to be only two minutes late _must_ be impressive." Gisele Bündchen noted.

"He is impressive." Dallas agreed. "AND, you'll get to meet him tonight."

"I'll bet he's excited." Izabel Goulart teased.

"Oh you have no idea." Dallas said, but nothing more was said about it, at least for another couple of hours, because rehearsals had to begin.

* * *

**Mac's Office  
Manhattan, New York  
November 17, 2006  
1:58 PM**

It was with great trepidation that Danny and Flack entered Mac's office that afternoon. This conversation could go one of two ways and both men were hoping it went easily.

"Can I help you two?" Mac asked, without looking up from the paperwork he was filling out.

"So how are you doing Mac?" Flack said, trying to keep it casual.

"Fine," Mac looked up at them suspiciously.

"Smooth." Danny whisper-snapped at his best friend.

"Well you try." Flack whisper-snapped back. "It's a lot harder than it looks."

"Fine." Danny whisper-snapped.

Mac sighed wearily. "What is it Danny?"

"You got any plans tonight, Mac?" He asked.

"Nothing pressing." Mac said, looking between the two younger men.

"We were thinking that maybe you'd like to come out with us tonight. Buke got us into the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and we thought maybe you'd like to join us." Danny suggested.

"Sure," Mac answered.

"See I told you Hawkes should have asked him." Flack said, not having listened to what Mac said.

"Now Mac," Danny said, also not having listened to what Mac said. "Before you flat out say no, I just want to say that…" He trailed off, as both he and Flack realized what Mac had just said.

"That was a…" Flack said, speechless. "a yes?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, sounds like fun."

Danny's jaw dropped. "But…but…but I had this whole speech prepared. About how you never leave the office. And how you need to have some fun. And…and…and…" He trailed off. He seemed to be having trouble speaking.

"So what time are we meeting tonight?" Mac asked pleasantly.

"7:15 at the Lexington Avenue Armory." Flack said, clearly still in shock.

"Dress code?" Mac asked in the same tone as before.

"Suit and a tie." Danny said, voice wavering from his surprise.

"Wonderful." Mac said. "See you, 7:15 at the Armory."

The two men turned and walked out of the door, surprise still etched on both of their faces. As soon as they were gone, Mac snickered. They were just too easy.

From where they were standing outside Mac's office, Stella and Lindsay laughed hysterically at the looks on their two co-workers faces. Truth was, Lindsay had gone in earlier and told Mac what they were planning on asking him; she didn't think that Mac should be ambushed by them.

Together, with Stella, they had come up with a plan. Mac stuck his head out of the office, and looked at the two girls.

"Did it work?" Stella asked.

Mac nodded and grinned. "You should have seen the looks on their faces when they realized I said yes."

* * *

**Lexington Avenue Armory  
Manhattan, New York  
November 17, 2006  
7:15 PM**

Standing in his black suit, black shirt, and red tie, Don looked up at the building that he had seen so many times, but had only actually been in twice. Already, there were people standing outside, just waiting to get in.

"All right, we're here." Danny said, as he and Hawkes made their way over to Don. Danny had a black jacket over a light blue shirt and a blue tie that was around his neck, but not yet tied. Don knew he was waiting for the last possible second to tie it.

Hawkes, however, looked ready to go, in his black jacket, green shirt, and cream colored tie.

"Looking good, Doc," Don teased; he wasn't sure he had ever seen the former ME in a suit before.

Before Hawkes could respond, Mac joined the group, dressed simply in a white dress shirt with a black tie. He carried his suit coat with him and looked surprisingly happy to be there.

Soon after, Adam joined them, wearing his black jacket over a white shirt with a peach colored tie. "Are we all set?" He asked and all of them nodded as they made their way into the building and over to their seats.

At exactly 8:00, the lights dimmed and some music started. Dancers were moving and Justin Timberlake came out. Gisele Bündchen walked onto the runway, and the show began.

* * *

**Victoria's Secret Fashion Show After Party  
Manhattan, New York  
November 17, 2006  
11:05 PM**

"We are definitely going to have to make this an annual event." Danny said, as the group waited for Dallas in the after party.

The show had ended a couple of minutes ago. The models were backstage, changing into their party dresses and everyone was mingling around, already having hit the open bar or about to do so. The five guys all had some type of drink in their hands and were looking at the various people surrounding them.

"So what did you think?" Dallas came up to them wearing a tight red dress and silver high heels, her hair in the same loose curls it had been in for the show.

"Do you have the fantasy bra on under there?" Danny snickered at the look on his best friend's face. Danny knew his best friend had a thing for red and curls, and he had to admit that Dallas did look pretty good right now.

"No," Dallas pouted. "They made me take it off."

"You sound upset about that." Hawkes remarked.

Dallas nodded, still pouting. "I wanna keep it."

"Poor baby." Don said, gaining his ability to speak back. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. In her ultra high heels, she was only two inches shorter than him. He gave her a short and sweet kiss. "You looked beautiful out there tonight." He told her honestly.

Dallas's cheeks pinked slightly. "Thank you." She turned to the others. "No, but seriously, did you guys have a good time?"

Danny nodded the affirmative. "I was _just_ about to tell Don that you can never break up because we need to make this an annual thing." Dallas laughed.

"Thank you for the invitation." Mac said, being polite. It started a chorus of thank you's from all of them, which Dallas waved off.

"Anytime, guys, anytime." Dallas linked her arm through Don's. "Now, you, my dear, have some wonderful people to meet, who are going to tell you all kinds of awful, embarrassing stories about me."

"Excellent." Don grinned.

Dallas shook her head. "No, not excellent. But whatever." She turned to Adam, Hawkes, Danny, and Mac. "You four, feel free to wander. People might come up to you though, just to talk. Us Angels are exceptionally friendly."

And with that, she dragged Don off into the opposite side of the room.

* * *

**Victoria's Secret Fashion Show After Party  
Manhattan, New York  
November 18, 2006  
12:14 PM**

"As soon as I finish this drink, I'm taking off." Mac said, joining Danny at the bar. He had just come over from talking to some of the girls about his travels from when he was a marine. "And while I will not force you to leave, I would suggest you do that same, seeing that you have the early shift with me tomorrow."

Danny nodded. "I'm finishing this up." He held his beer up, showing Mac that he had about half of it left still. "But I'm gonna head over to Buke and Flack before I go." He used his head to gesture over to the pair, who were talking with a very pregnant Heidi Klum.

"You know, he seems to really like her." Mac remarked.

"Who, Heidi?" Danny asked.

"No," Mac shot him a look. "Dallas."

"Oh yeah," Danny nodded. "He's never been like this before, not with any of his other girls, and from what Montana tells me, she's never been like this before either. I give it a year and half, maybe two before they're engaged."

"Really?" Mac said, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Danny nodded. "If things keep going the way they are now. Look at him," Mac did, just in time to find Dallas squirming due to Don pinching her side lightly. Next to them, Heidi was laughing. "He's practically in love."

"A year ago, you would have sounded bitter about that," Mac commented, looking at Danny to see his expression.

Danny shrugged. "Eh, she's good for him." He grinned appreciatively as one of the models he had been talking to earlier walked past. "Besides, anybody who gets us into a show of beautiful girls in lingerie is good in my book."

"Lindsay know you're here tonight?" Mac asked, thinking about the look Danny had just given the model.

Danny nodded. "Montana's the one who encouraged me to come. Not that it took much convincing."

"She also tell you to flirt with all the models?" Mac teased. "You and Lindsay have been getting closer lately. Is everything all right?"

Danny finished his drink, but didn't respond. "I'm going to say bye to Buke and Flack, then head out. You coming?" His comment successfully ended the conversation.

Mac nodded and finished his own drink before following Danny over to thank the reason they were there one last time.

* * *

**Outside Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 18, 2006  
1:58 AM**

"Remind me to take you out to a nice, fancy dinner sometime." Don said, pulling away from the kiss he was giving his girlfriend.

"Why do you want to take me to a nice, fancy dinner?" Dallas asked.

His eyes roamed down her body before going back up to her eyes and he smirked. "To see you in another dress like that."

Dallas laughed. "I don't have another red dress like this." Earlier that night, Danny had told her about Don's love of red, something that Dallas had latched onto.

"Any red dress is fine," Don told her. "Or any color dress like that is fine too. I'm really not fussed."

"Ok," Dallas said, looping he arms around Don's neck, standing on her tip toes. She had ditched the shoes sometime on the way home. Her heels were now sitting on the floor, next to the door. "Dinner sounds nice."

She moved her arms off of his neck, laced her fingers in his, and pushed herself up for another kiss. "I'd invite you in tonight, but I know you have to work pretty early tomorrow."

"I'd come in anyway, if I knew I'd get a bit of sleep." He responded, with a small smirk.

"Oh well," She sighed dramatically. "Guess I'll just have to talk to you later."

"I guess so." Don teased. She unlocked her door and was about to step inside before he spoke again. "You looked stunningly beautiful tonight." He told her. "All night. Hell, right now."

Dallas smiled at him. "Bye Don."

He grinned. "Bye Dal."

* * *

**A/N: So, what did we all think? Did we like it?**


	12. We Have to Find Ourselves More Friends

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed last chapter. I'm sorry it's been so long. I had been working a lot and then I went away and I didn't have a chance to post this before I left. So here it is now!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

_Some pretty minor spoilers for 3x10, Sweet Sixteen

* * *

_**Dos Caminos  
Manhattan, New York  
November 22, 2006  
9:48 PM**

"I can't believe his parents took you here for dinner!" Ellie said.

"I can't believe this place has over a hundred selections of tequila and we haven't been here before!" Dallas exclaimed. She shook her head. "How have we _never been_ here before?" Her tone was one of clear disbelief.

Currently, she, Ellie, and Liv were sitting in the restaurant Hawkes' parents had taken Liv to for dinner. They were meeting up, to have some together time, because they had not all sat down together, just them, in a while. However, as they were about to enter the building, Lindsay's phone had gone off and she had been called away to work. But the three others decided to go in anyway.

"How did dinner go anyway?" Ellie asked, as she picked up her own menu.

"Good." Liv said. "His parents are really nice. His dad's very funny; he acts a lot like Sheldon. His mom's the sweetest person ever."

"Did they like you?" Ellie asked.

"I think so," Liv said. "They didn't give any indication that they didn't." Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, what if they really didn't like me and they're just really good actors?" She looked legitimately worried.

"Oh relax." Dallas said. She leaned over to the table next to them, a table full of guys that were about their age. The three girls had overheard one of them say that it was a "college reunion" when they walked in. "Do you mind if I borrow this?" She asked, picking up a bottle of tequila from their table.

"Not at all." The dark haired man nearest to her shot her a dazzling smile.

"Great, thanks." Dallas took the bottle and a shot glass and turned toward her worrying friend. "Here, have a shot. Nothing seems quite so bad after tequila."

"Dallas!" Ellie scolded. "Not helping!" She looked over at Liv. "Don't be silly, they loved you. Hawkes hasn't looked worried about it, neither should you."

Dallas expertly poured a shot of tequila and slid it across the table to Liv. "Tequila." She sing-songed.

"God, what is your obsession?" Ellie turned to her friend.

Dallas pouted. "You _know_ I love tequila." She said. "And did you not hear me. 100 different types. A hundred!" She shook her head, looking down at her menu in fascination. "We are so coming back here." She turned to Liv. "Come on, take the shot." She encouraged.

"Don't drown your worries in alcohol." Ellie warned.

Liv looked between the two of them. "Screw it." She knocked back her shot.

"Yes!" Dallas grinned triumphantly. She looked at Ellie.

Ellie laughed. "Ok, ok. Gimme one."

"'Atta girl." Dallas said. She leaned over to their neighbor's table, took two more shot glasses, and shot the boys next to them a thank you smile as she took poured the borrowed tequila into all three glasses. "Bottom's up."

"Bottom's up." Ellie and Liv echoed as all three girls took their shots.

"Ohh, it's Linds!" Dallas exclaimed as her phone rang. She flipped it open and stuck it to her ear. "You're missing _everything_! There's this table of hot guys that I would totally hook up with if I wasn't with Don and there's a hundred types of tequila here and it's aweso…" Dallas trailed off. "YOU WHAT?"

* * *

**Snake Bite Center  
Queens, New York  
November 22, 2006  
11:05 PM**

"Doing alright Monroe?" Flack asked, as he and Danny entered the room at the Snake Bite Center.

"I was bitten by a snake at a sixteen year old's birthday." Lindsay said dryly. "I've had better nights, especially considering where I was _supposed_ to be tonight."

"Where were you supposed to be tonight?" Danny asked, but his question was answered by the arrival of a giggly blonde and brunette.

"With them." Lindsay pointed.

Ellie giggled and looked behind her. "I don't see anybody back there!" She said, eyes widening innocently.

Dallas laughed harder. "She means us dummy."

"Ohhh," Ellie said, comprehension drawing across her face.

"Oh yeah," Danny said. "Ya know what, Montana? You might have gotten the better end of the deal."He snickered.

"Donnie!" Dallas exclaimed, noticing for the first time that her boyfriend was there. She ran (as well as a drunk girl in high heels could run) across the room and stumbled, almost falling. Automatically, Don reached out and caught her.

"Hi," He greeted her, laughing as he did so.

"I'm drunk." Dallas informed him.

"I can tell." He teased. "Dinner went well, I guess?"

From the seat by the door she had just sat in, Ellie nodded enthusiastically. "Fantastic!"

"There were a hundred selections of tequila there."Dallas said. "A _hundred_!"

"And how many of those hundred did you try?" Danny muttered. Lindsay snickered. Don, having heard what he said, smiled amusedly and put his arm around his girlfriend's waist, pulling her close.

Dallas sighed contentedly. "I love tequila."

"Where's Liv?" Lindsay asked. "Wasn't she with you?"

Ellie nodded. "She was. Hawkes picked us up and dropped us off here…"

"Well that's one worry relieved." Don said, looking between the two girls. He had been a bit worried as to how the two girls got there, when they first showed up drunk and alone.

"And she stayed with him. She said to tell you hi, hopes you're doing all right, and says she'll see you tomorrow." Dallas finished.

"Even when they're drunk, girls can still finish each other's sentences." Danny shook his head in disbelief. Everyone laughed.

After about half an hour, Flack looked at his watch, said it was getting late, and offered to take Dallas and Ellie home on his way to the precinct. "You coming, Danno?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, ok, give me a minute." Flack nodded, and ushered Dallas out of the room, who was complaining about how she wanted to hear what Danny was saying.

"She's really somethin'" Danny commented.

Lindsay snorted. "You have no idea."

"So how ya doing?" Danny asked. "Really, how are you? No sarcasm."

"I'm sorry, did _you_ just tell me no sarcasm?" Lindsay teased, but she realized he was being serious. "I'm good, Danny, really I am. It barely even hurts anymore."

"You really had me worried Montana." Danny told her, taking her hand in his. "Undercover ops, snake bites, you gotta stop doing this."

Lindsay laughed. "I'll try."

Danny nodded. "That's all I ask." He looked at his watch and groaned. "I gotta go, Flack'll leave without me if I'm not in the car soon." He stood up and hesitated. Then, he bent down, kissed her cheek, and walked over to the door. "See you later Montana."

"Hey, Danny?" Lindsay called. He stopped at the door and turned around. "Thank you."

Her thank you could have meant a lot of things. In fact, it did mean a lot of things. She was expressing so many emotions into two small, little words and he knew exactly what she was trying to say. So he smiled his beautiful smile at her and left with a wave.

She knew he knew what she was trying to say.

* * *

**Adam's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 23, 2006  
3:49 PM**

"Finally!" Adam pulled his sister into his apartment. "The one time I need you, you aren't even here!"

"Hi Ally, how are you? Was Arizona fun? Are mom and dad ok?" Ally teased. "Chill out. It's Thanksgiving. A day to be mellow."

"I don't have time to be mellow." Adam said. "I did a stupid thing."

"A stupid thing?" Ally asked. "Ok, well I'm gonna need a beer for this one. Then we can talk about all the stupid things you've done."

Adam complied with his sister's request and met her in his living room, two beers in hand. He handed Ally one of them and settled himself on the couch.

"Ok, I'm ready." Ally said. "What did you do?"

"A couple weeks ago, we had this rough case and there ended up being a dirty cop and man, it was just tough. Everybody was like freaking out and…"

"Rambling." Ally interrupted.

"Right, sorry." Adam said. "Anyway, Ellie and I went to the bar that night and I was drinking a lot and then…" He trailed off.

"And then…" Ally prompted.

"And then I kissed her."

"Oh my god, are guys together now? Where is she? Is she here?" Ally looked thrilled at this possibility.

"No, Al, we're not together and no, she's not here." Adam took a sip of his beer. "I told her the morning after that I was really drunk the night before and that I didn't remember anything."

Ally was silent for a minute. "Well you were right."

"About what?" Adam asked, clearly confused.

"About doing something stupid." Ally shot back. "Why? Why would you do something like that?"

"Because she doesn't like me like that." Adam said. "And I didn't want to screw up our friendship."

Ally sighed patiently. "You have a lot to learn about girls, favorite brother of mine." She shook her head. "She does like you. A lot."

"Yeah?" Adam said. "And you can tell this from the 20 minutes you spent talking to her."

Ally nodded. "Mmhhmm. I'm a girl, we can tell these things."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Just tell me what I can do about it."

"Well," Ally said thoughtfully. "The way I see it, you have two options. Option one, you tell her the truth and see how she takes it."

"Not going to happen." Adam interjected.

"Or option two," Ally glared at her brother for interrupting. "you go on pretending like nothing ever happened and the sexual tension between the two of you just keeps getting thicker until you both snap."

* * *

**Outside Lindsay's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 23, 2006  
5:37 PM**

"How about that new Chinese place?" Lindsay suggested, wrapping her coat around her tighter, as the wind blew a bit more fiercely.

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Is that gonna be open? I mean, it is Thanksgiving."

Lindsay shrugged. "I don't know. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving in China, but I guess the owners might want to celebrate it anyway." She shrugged again. "It's worth a shot. We're not doing anything else." She teased, with a smile on her face.

Danny shook his head. "Seriously, I mean, where _is_ everybody?"

"Let's see," Lindsay said, holding out her gloved hands to count on her fingers. "Hawkes and Liv are at his parents. Dal and Flack are at her grandparent's. Ellie's in Texas with the rest of her family. Adam's with his sister. Mac and Stell are still at work. Marty's shift starts now. Sid's with his family." She took a breath and looked down at her fingers. "Did I forget anybody?"

Danny shook his head. "Nope. That's everybody." He paused. "Man, we have got to find ourselves more friends Montana."

Lindsay burst into laughter. "I think we do ok Danny."

Danny shrugged. "I don't know, Montana. We could do better, I think. I mean, think of how weird all of our friends are."

Lindsay's eyes sparkled. "Imagine what they must say about us."

Danny ignored her. "And the absolute weirdest of them all?" He paused. "Adam."

"Dallas." Lindsay said, at the same time he said "Adam".

"No way!" They said at the same time, and exchanged smiles.

"Alright." Danny rubbed his hands together. "Why do you say Dallas?"

"Why do you say Adam?" She countered.

"Hey, I asked you first." He protested.

"And I asked you second." She shrugged.

He grinned. "Alright then. I'll go. Adam because…because…because the guy spends all of his time playing video games."

"So do lots of guys." Lindsay said.

"Yeah but…" Danny trailed off. "Ok I'm out. You go."

"Ok," Lindsay said, looking up to the challenge. "I say Dallas because…because…wow, this is a lot harder than it looks." Danny laughed. "Because she models lingerie for a living."

"I got news for you Montana," Danny said. "That doesn't make her weird. That makes her every guy's fantasy."

"What's that make Flack?" Lindsay asked, curious.

"The guy every other guy _hates_." The two laughed.

It was times like this that Lindsay liked. When the two of them could be completely comfortable around each other, joking back and forth, talking about anything and everything, from work to nonsense.

She knew that when they finally did get together, that it would be perfect. Which is probably why she did what she did.

* * *

**A/N: So, anybody like to guess what exactly is was that Lindsay did? I know! But you won't find out until the next chapter. So read and review, let me know what you think.**


	13. This Is Why I Hate You

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing the last chapter guys. I'm soo sorry about the long wait for this chapter. But here's this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.

* * *

****Sullivan's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
November 24, 2006  
9:43 PM**

"So let me get this straight," Ellie leaned across the table to look directly at Lindsay. Next to Ellie sat Liv, who was desperately trying not to laugh. Next to Lindsay sat Dallas, who, unlike the others, made no effort to conceal her laughter. The rest of their friends were all working, so the girls were having some much needed girl time, waiting for Stella to join them, when her shift ended at 10. "Last night, _Thanksgiving night_, you were walking around with Danny, trying to find something to eat. You _kiss_ him and then when you pull away, you tell him that you're secretly in love with Dal and then go running home?"

Liv lost it then and began laughing equally as hard as Dallas while Lindsay nodded miserably, lifting her beer to drink from.

"He probably thinks I'm insane." She moaned.

"Well you are." Dallas, ever the blunt one.

"Whatever," Lindsay brushed her friend off. "Now we're going to have to talk about how I'm a lesbian!" Two passing guys turned to look at her, jaws dropped. "Oh grow up!" She glared at them and they walked away.

"I'm sure he doesn't actually believe you're a lesbian." Liv said, trying to be comforting, but she had barely finished her sentence before she and Dallas cracked up again.

"You guys are the least helpful people on the planet!" Lindsay cried.

"You just told my boyfriend's best friend that we were lesbians." Dallas said.

"Hey now!" Ellie cried in protest to Lindsay's statement. "I'm being supportive and friendly."

"Why be supportive and friendly when teasing and cynical are so much more fun?" Liv laughed.

"True Life: I hate my friends." Lindsay shot back, but a smile graced her face. "I'm kidding." She said, when she saw the faked looks of hurt on her friends' faces. "As _psychotic_ as you are, I love all of you."

"More than you love white chocolate?" Ellie asked, widening her blue eyes.

"Mmhmm." Lindsay nodded. It was common knowledge that she loved white chocolate.

"More than you love _Pride and Prejudice_?" Liv said, listing Lindsay's favorite book.

"Mmm, just a bit." Lindsay teased.

Dallas smirked. "More than you love Danny?"

"This is why I hate you."

* * *

**Don's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 25, 2006  
8:28 PM**

Don had literally just closed his front door and took two steps away before someone started knocking on it. He groaned; it had been a rough day at work and he really wasn't in the mood for company. But a smile grew on his face as he opened to door to find his beautiful girlfriend standing there with a plate of cupcakes.

"Hi," He said, looking back and forth between the cupcakes and her grinning face.

"Hey," She greeted as she brushed past him and walked toward his kitchen. He followed. "Brought you something." She set the plate down on the counter and pulled the plastic off.

He raised an eyebrow and hesitantly took one of the vanilla cupcakes off of the plate. She made a face at him, sharing her disgust at his choice, as she grabbed a chocolate one and took a bite.

"Why aren't you eating it?" She cocked her head to the side.

"I've heard about y0ur lack of cooking skills." Don smirked. "Not sure I'm ready to try it yet." Dallas looked up at him and the next thing he knew, there was chocolate icing smeared on his cheek. "Oh you're dead!" He smeared the vanilla icing from his cupcake into the exposed skin from her long-sleeved v-neck.

She giggled and soon they were in a full-on war, smearing icing all over each other, which only escalated when he found a can of whipped cream in the fridge and began spraying her.

Suddenly Don took a good look at her and burst into laughter.

"What?" Dallas' eyes widened.

He shook his head. "Nothing, it's just…you look ridiculous." He laughed.

"Well you're not exactly Mr. Clean right now!" She shot back. It was true; they were both covered in icing and whipped cream from head to toe and his kitchen wasn't much cleaner. In fact, the only relatively clean space was the counter top and so she hopped up on top.

Don shook his can of whipped cream, gauging its fullness, and deciding it was empty, threw it in the trash, before stepping in between her legs and pushing the bottom of her shirt up a bit as his hands went to her waist. "Too bad I didn't get one of those cupcakes you made." He smirked, the sarcasm in his tone evident.

Dallas smirked right back at him. "Yeah, it is. Especially because it wasn't me that made them, it was the delicious bakery down the street." His jaw dropped and she giggled. "Payback's a bitch." He shook his head and she giggled again. "Look there's still some cake over there." She pointed to a pile of icing-less cupcakes.

"Cupcakes with no icing?" He said. "I don't think so."

"Well," She shrugged innocently. "I suppose you could get the icing from somewhere else."

Don smirked. "You mean like here?" He leaned forward, placed his mouth on her neck, and lightly stuck his tongue out.

"Mmhmm," Dallas managed to get out as she tilted her head sideways. Don moved his lips from her neck up to her mouth. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he picked her up off of the counter.

They both knew where this was headed. And the countertop wasn't it.

* * *

**New York Crime Lab Break Room  
Manhattan, New York  
November 25, 2006  
9:01 PM**

With a quick glance around the corner, Lindsay let out the breath she had been holding and continued on her journey. Throughout the entire day, she had been stopping to check around corners, ducking under desks and tables, and pretending to have important conversations on her cell phone.

As a result, she had yet to talk to Danny about the other night…and she was intending to keep it that way. Having reached another corner, she stopped walking, pressed her body against the wall, and peeked around the corner.

"What are you doing?" Hawkes popped his head over her shoulder. Lindsay shrieked as she jumped in fright and Hawkes burst into hysterical laughter.

"Don't do that again." Lindsay said once she managed to calm her heart rate a little. She placed her palm over her heart. "My heart's still racing."

"You never answered my question." Hawkes pointed out.

Lindsay scowled. "Yeah, I was hoping to get away with that."

"No luck." Hawkes said. "Where you headed?"

"Break room." Lindsay replied.

"Oh me too." Hawkes said. They fell in step, walking the last stretch to the break room, Lindsay's eyes scanning meticulously.

"Hey guys," Stella joined the two. "What's up?"

"Grabbing a snack," Hawkes said.

"Yeah, same." Lindsay lied. Truthfully, she had only decided to come to the break room because Danny had gone into their office when she was getting ready to do the same.

"Mind if I join?" Stella asked.

"Not at all." Hawkes said, opening the door and allowing Lindsay and Stella to enter.

"Hey Danny," Stella said. Lindsay froze.

"Hey Stell," Danny greeted. "Hawkes," He nodded, and then grinned. "Hi Montana."

"Hi," She squeaked.

Danny snickered, pulling a soda out of the fridge. "Well, I'm going back to our office." He told her. "I'll probably be there for a good hour still, Montana, so don't worry about sneaking around the halls anymore." With a final smirk directed at her, he waved to the others and left the room.

Lindsay sank into a chair and began repeatedly banging her head against the table.

"Oh hun," Stella said comfortingly, moving to rub her hand up and down Lindsay's back. "He doesn't _really_ think you're a lesbian."

Hawkes gave them a look. He shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask."

* * *

**Don's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 26, 2006  
10:53 AM**

With a small sigh, Dallas snuggled deeper into Don's chest. He let out a groan. "You can't just do that Dal."

He felt her smile. "Oops," She said, feigning innocence.

Don loosely tugged on one of her curls, still covered in icing from the night before, and then began twirling different pieces of her hair. In turn, she began tracing patterns on his chest, working her way up to and then around his bomb scar. "Does it hurt?" Dallas asked; she knew the story, had seen the scar, but had never really asked about it and he had been waiting for her to do it. Now, she finally had.

"Occasionally," He told her. She continued to trace the outline, something he found strange. She was not the first woman he had been with after the bomb, but none of the others had even gone near the scar.

She breathed in slowly and then breathed out deeply. "Can we just stay here forever?"

Don snickered. "As flattered as I am that you want to spend the rest of your life in bed with me, I'm pretty certain that you have to meet Danny today at some point."

Dallas bolted up. "_Merda_," She swore. "_que horas são?_"

"You know it's a little unsettling that you jumped out of bed with me to go out with my best friend.

Dallas' head turned toward his alarm clock. "_Eleven_! _Aye, merda merda merda."_ She jumped out of bed, pulling his button down on. Don laughed. Finally, she acknowledged her boyfriend's statement. "Oh relax, we're going shopping."

"Shopping?" Don stepped out of bed, pulling his pants on.

"Oh my god, _deus_." She groaned, catching sight of herself in the mirror. "Look at my hair!"

Don laughed as he stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I have a shower here. Go take one. I'll go find something for breakfast." He leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek. "I'll drive you home, you can change, and then I'll drop you off, ok?"

She nodded. "Wanna meet Danny and I for lunch later?"

"I don't know." Don teased. "Is Danny gonna be cool with me crashing your date?"

Dallas slipped out of his arms, heading toward the shower. "Guess we'll find out." She winked.

* * *

**Fifth Avenue  
Manhattan, New York  
November 26, 2006  
11:13 AM**

"Remind me again why we're going shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving." Dallas said, as she found Danny leaning against a coffee cart, holding two coffees.

"Because last year I couldn't find anything to give her and I figured that if I started early _and_ with her best friend, then I could get her something nice this year." Danny looked down. "Or at least better than the…sweater…I got her last year."

"Sweaters aren't so bad." Dallas took her coffee from him.

"It was furry." Dallas winced. "And it lit up."

"_Dio_, Danny." Dallas groaned, stepping closer to him to create space as a rather large group of people passed.

"Hmm," A smirk flittered onto Danny's face.

"'Hmm' what?" Dallas asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Danny smirked.

"Danny," Dallas warned. "I'll go home and you can shop for Lindsay by yourself."

"You smell like Flack." Danny told her.

"Well he is my boyfriend," Dallas said sarcastically. "We do spend some time together."

Danny reached out and pulled one of her loose natural curls toward his nose, breathing in deeply. "That's Flack's shampoo."

"Should I be worried that you recognize Don's shampoo?"

Danny ignored her. "You slept with Flack!"

"Announce it to the world, why don't you?" Dallas cried, throwing her empty coffee in a nearby trash can.

Danny grinned. "Hawkes owes me ten bucks."

Dallas crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, popped her hip up, and stuck her right leg out. "You _bet_ on my sex life?"

"Well uhh," Danny said. Dallas raised her other eyebrow. "I'll buy you a drink next time we go out."

"That's better."

* * *

**A/N: So there it is, what did we think? A lot of Dallas/Don in this one, but the next one will have some good Liv/Hawkes and some Danny/Lindsay. **


	14. He Wants to Kill Me

**A/N: Ahhh! I'm so sorry! It's literally been forever since I've been here. It's been a rough few months, but I am back and here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

_Spoilers to 3x12 Raising Shane

* * *

_**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 26, 2006  
12:49 AM**

"Food!" Dallas exclaimed, jumping up off the couch, as a knock sounded through the apartment.

"Oh my God, you slept with Flack!" Lindsay exclaimed, looking up from her phone. Dallas leaped toward the door, ignoring the cries of protest. Exchanging cash for the food the girls had ordered, she bumped her door shut with her hip and turned around, preparing herself for the questions she knew were coming.

"When did this happen?" Stella asked.

"Why were you hiding this from us?" Liv's eyes narrowed.

"Is he as good as he looks?" Ellie asked with a suggestive grin.

"How did you find out?" Dallas looked at Lindsay as she put the food on the table.

"Danny's been holding it over my head all day." Lindsay held up her phone. "I finally got it out of him."

Dallas rolled her eyes. "Remind me to kill him when I get back."

"You're assuming I won't beat you to it." Lindsay shot back.

The five girls were having one last girl's night before Dallas left for Spain for a week. Dallas has known this would be torture as soon as offered to host them. Against her better judgment, she had invited them over; at least if they were somewhere else, she could leave. As it was, Dallas knew she couldn't and resolved to ignore them.

However, they would not be ignored. Save for Dallas, no one had touched the food, all staring at her waiting for answers.

Dallas sighed, knowing they wouldn't give up until she responded. "Fine. It happened last night, I wasn't hiding it from you; you just didn't give me a chance to bring it up, and yes. Can we eat now?"

With a satisfied nod, everyone began helping themselves. "You know, I thought you looked kind of different when we walked in." Ellie remarked casually. "But nobody said anything so I thought I was wrong."

"Different?" Dallas raised her eyebrows. "Different how?"

Ellie shrugged. "You just look…I don't know, brighter, I guess. Like, you're glowing, sort of."

Lindsay, Stella, and Liv each turned to look. "Oh yeah, definitely glowing."

Dallas pouted, leaning deeper into the couch. "I hate you all."

Before anyone could respond, Stella's phone beeped. With a groan, she picked it up and read the message. "I'm out." She gathered her things. "You'll be next!" She sing-songed to Lindsay.

Lindsay shook her head. "Don't say that; you'll jinx it!"

Stella laughed. "Thanks Dal, have fun in Spain. See you all later."

"Tell Don to text me when he gets a chance." Dallas called as Stella headed for the door. "And try not to tease him too much."

Stella laughed. "Fat chance."

"Ok, so what movie?" Lindsay asked, walking over to the wall of DVDs.

"Notebook!" Ellie jumped right in with her favorite movie.

"No, that's too sad. A Cinderella Story." Dallas responded with her favorite movie.

"Butterfly Effect?" Lindsay suggested, spotting the movie. As it was not met with protest, she slid it into the DVD player and pressed play.

It wasn't long before Lindsay's phone rang, calling her away from Ashton Kutcher and to a dead body.

"Bring me back a present from Spain!" She called as she walked out.

"And then there were three." Liv teased.

* * *

**Snooker's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
November 26, 2006  
1:27 PM**

"All right, head over to the hospital now, I'll catch up with you in a bit." Flack turned toward Mac and Stella, who were walking under the tape. "Straight up robbery. Bartender's the vic. Name's Kelly Jones; she took two in the chest. Ambulance picked her up, took her to Bellevue, I'm trying to locate the family now." He led them into the bar.

"Witnesses?" Stella asked.

"Bouncer." Flack pointed. "Nick Davis. Says he and Kelly were closing up when the shooter pushed his way in and went for the register and then bang bang."

"Any description of the shooter?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, I put it over the radio. African American male, green sweatshirt, black sweats."

Mac nodded. "All right, Danny and Lindsay are on their way. Let's get started."

Stella nodded, walking to the corner. "So, Flack, have a good day."

Flack looked at Mac, shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." He said slowly.

A sly grin popped up on Stella's face. "Yeah, I suppose it could have been better. You could have spent all day with your girlfriend." With a grin at the look on his face, she continued. "I believe it is Danny that you want to kill right now and text Dal when you get a chance." Flack turned and left the bar, going outside to talk to his guys.

Mac shot Stella a look. "What?" Stella asked innocently. "It's just so easy." Mac shook his head as Lindsay came in.

"He wants to kill me." She announced.

"You're not the only one." Danny responded, stepping in behind her. "Where to boss?"

"Danny, back here." Mac pointed behind the bar. "Lindsay, fingerprint the door." For a little while, they worked diligently, their work finally broken by Flack.

"Picked up the shooter, on his way for a positive ID from the bouncer." Flack called in. Mac and Stella paused for a moment and went outside. Two officers were leading a man in a green sweatshirt and black sweats out of the car.

The officer pulled the hood off. "That's the guy!" Nick the bouncer accused. "That's him."

Flack looked back and forth between the two. "Are you 100% sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. That's him!" Nick exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Hawkes asked as he was pushed into the backseat of a patrol car.

"Oh God." Stella said.

Oh God was right.

* * *

**Dallas' Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 27, 2006  
6:34 AM**

"Dal?" Don called, as he entered her apartment.

"Shh!" He was instantly shushed by Dallas and Ellie, who were sitting at the table, drinking coffee.

"Sorry," He whispered, walking toward them. He kissed the top of Dallas' head and sat down next to her.

"We just got Liv to go to sleep." Ellie said. "We've been up all night with her. She's freaking out."

"Can you blame her?" Dallas said softly. She looked at the clock. "We have to go." She told him, clearly annoyed that she had to leave.

Don nodded as he stood up and offered a hand to her. "El, keep Liv here. I'll come pick you guys up on my way back."

Ellie nodded. "Call me when you're close; I'll wake her up then."

Don nodded, picking up Dallas' bag. "Ready?"

Dallas nodded. "I guess so." She turned to Ellie. "Lock it up when you guys leave."

"Actually locking your apartment?" Don teased, wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her out. Despite his constant warnings, her door was almost always open.

She laughed. "Yeah, I'll be gone for a week. I always lock it when I'm out; it's when I'm inside that I don't lock it." She paused and when she continued, she was much more somber. "Is Hawkes gonna be ok?"

"Yeah," He said. "He'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Dallas sounded skeptical.

Don stopped and turned to face her. "I promise that by the time you get back, he will be out."

"Don't say I promise." Dallas said seriously. "Too many people have told me they promise and then never followed up with it."

As he usually felt whenever she mentioned something about her past, he felt the desire to hold her closely and not let go. He knew she was cynical about life, because of all that had happened, but he had no idea just how deep it ran. "Ok," He said finally. "I won't promise. But he will be out."

"I'm holding you to that." She said skeptically.

"Me too."

**Interrogation 1  
Manhattan, New York  
November 27, 2006  
8:57 AM**

Head resting in his hands, Hawkes tried to ignore the knocking on the door. The knocking continued and he finally gave up on ignoring whoever is was and called "Come in,"

He stood and crossed the room in five steps when he saw her come in. Dressed in what was definitely pajamas, hair in a messy ponytail, and bags under her eyes, Liv was still the most beautiful thing he'd seen. He grabbed her and pulled her close, managing to shut the door as he did so.

"I didn't know if you wanted me to come in or not." She muttered into his chest, clinging to him. "So I knocked."

"Trust me sweetheart," Hawkes held her tighter. "You are the only one I want to see right now."

"You'll be out soon enough." Liv said, when they finally pulled away a bit.

"You don't even know what they think I did." Hawkes said.

She shrugged. "Yeah, but I know you didn't do it." She paused. "Whatever it was."

He let out a small laugh and she smiled. Taking a look at her watch, she frowned regretfully. "I should go. Don told me I shouldn't stay too long at a time. I'll come back later?"

He pulled her in for a kiss. "You better."

With one last squeeze of his hand, Liv turned and exited Interrogation. "Hey Mac." She greeted.

Mac didn't acknowledge her as he closed the door to the room, successfully locking himself in and her out. "What the…?" Liv trailed off as an older man in a suit came barreling through, followed by a bunch on officers.

Next thing she knew, the door was being forced open and Mac was being pulled out.

"You're out of your mind Taylor!" The man exclaimed.

"Are you threatening me, Captain?" Mac ask, as officers worked to pull him back.

Flack stepped in, saving the day. "Captain, he's not doing anything you wouldn't be doing if it were me in that room. Now, I'm asking you to do me a favor. Please, let me handle this?"

'Captain' sighed and, apparently seeing Flack's point, relented. "You get him out of here right now."

"All right," Flack said, gently grabbing Liv's arm as he walked toward the officers. "I got this, guys." The officers released their hold on Mac as Flack went up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "We gotta talk." He turned to Liv. "Go in and sit at my desk, alright? I'll be in a second."

With a solemn nod, Liv did as he asked. This was a lot bigger than she thought it was.

* * *

**New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
November 27, 2006  
11:43 AM**

"Sorry, Montana, I got held up." Danny said, entering the room Lindsay was in. "Wanna get on our peep show vic's undies?" He waited for her laugh.

"I already did it. I found some trace on the fabric; I'm just waiting for the result." Lindsay's tone was of complete seriousness.

"Alright, what're you waiting here for?"

"I can't go in until IA out."

"What do you mean?"

"They're processing Hawkes' clothes."

"Really?" Danny moved the table light to get a better look. Together, they stared blatantly.

"He's got nitric acid, filter paper." Lindsay listed. Of course, Danny knew this, but he also knew saying the procedure aloud was helping her. Following along verbally as IA processed allowed her to see that nothing wrong was being done. "He's testing for gunshot residue."

"It's positive for GSR!" She exclaimed.

"What? Come on, already." Danny scoffed. "That can't be."

"Well it turned blue, that's the only conclusion." Lindsay looked on the verge on a panic attack.

"It's just a presumptive test Lindsay." Danny said, not quite ready to believe it.

"Yeah, I know, but those are right 99.8% of the time." Lindsay shot back.

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked, coming inside, pulling her lab coat on.

"Hawkes' clothes just tested positive for gunshot residue." Lindsay pointed.

"What?" Stella asked, clearly in disbelief as well.

"They…they were testing the cuff of his right sleeve." Lindsay said.

"It's consistent with firing a gun." Stella said, almost reluctantly.

"And he's right handed." Lindsay trailed off.

"Aright, we know he didn't do it." Danny said.

"You know he didn't do it and I know he didn't do it, but the trouble is, now we have an eyewitness and more importantly, the evidence, that contradict what we all think!"

Stella said nothing as she turned and stalked off. Lindsay bit her lip as she looked up at Danny, who pulled her close into a hug. "Calm down." He said. "Don't have a panic attack. I promise Hawkes will be fine."

It was exactly what she needed to hear.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so this is Raising Shane Part 1...Part 2 is already written, so it will definitely be up soon...hopefully by the end of the weekend! Let me know how we liked this part.**


	15. She's Gonna Kill Him

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Glad you liked last chapter. Here's this one.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

_Spoilers for 3x11 Raising Shane

* * *

_**New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
November 27, 2006  
1:08 PM**

"Hawkes was working in ballistics yesterday. He test-fired two different handguns." Stella's eyes were sparkling for the first time all day as she shared her discovery. Currently, she, Mac, and Danny were sitting in a room, trying to do their part in helping Hawkes. Nobody's mind was on their other case, with the dead junkie, where it should have been.

"So if he fired the gun and then slid the sweatshirt on later at home, traces of residue could have easily transferred to his sleeve." Mac said.

"So we've explained the GSR." Stella said. "What about the cash in his pockets?"

"Let's treat Hawkes like what he is." Mac suggested. "Our only viable suspect. Let's interrogate him, right here, right now, ask the hard questions, see what answers we come up with."

"Ok," Stella pondered. "So what the hell was he doing on Green Street that early in the morning?"

"He works the late shift Tuesdays and Wednesdays 4-8." Danny jumped in. "And I know for a fact he goes running once he gets off. He says it's the only way he can wind down."

"Ok, good." Mac gestured to Danny. "Has he been to that bar before?"

Danny shrugged. "I'd say two or three times maybe."

"Well it's possible he was casing the place." Mac frowned.

"What was his motive?" Stella asked, confused.

"Maybe he needed money," Mac said, after thinking a moment.

"Nah," Danny shook his head. "Never mentioned anything about being strapped for cash."

"Well he just started working the night shift three weeks ago." Stella raised her eyebrows skeptically. "That's overtime." She shrugged. "And he did move into a new apartment."

"I'm telling you Stell, the motive is not money." Danny said.

"Ok, but how can you be so sure?" Stella asked.

"Because the bouncer said the shooter fired his weapon after he already had the cash." Under any normal circumstances, Danny would have smirked after thing, for knowing such information. However, this wasn't normal and they all knew that.

Which was why Mac got so defensive. "Whoa, whoa, you talked to the bouncer?"

Stella joined in on the lecture. "Danny, what were you thinking? You can be accused of tampering with a witness or interfering with an investigation. Gerard is looking for any excuse to come at us."

Their combined efforts made him feel five years old. "I'm sorry, alright? I didn't break any rules, alright. I just bent them a little bit." He gestured to one side of an imaginary line with both hands. "I didn't break them." His hands crossed the imaginary line.

Danny leaned forward. "But look, Hawkes was pulled out of the backseat of an unmarked police car. His hands were cuffed behind his back and I mean he looked like a suspect before the guy even ID-ed him!" He paused, looking away from them. "I just wanted to know the bouncer was sure."

"And?" Stella asked hopefully.

"He said that Hawkes did it." Danny said flatly. "And that after he took the money from the register, he still shot the bartender." A smile grew on Danny's face.

For a moment, there was complete silence between the three. "Someone's framing him." Mac said finally. "There's no other explanation. He had to have been planning it for at least the last three weeks, they must have been watching him, they know he was working the late shift, that he goes running after work wearing those types of clothes, running in that particular neighborhood."

"Yeah, but how would they know he would be working ballistics and would get GSR on his hands?" Stella asked bitterly.

Mac shook his head. "They got lucky."

"Why would somebody wanna take down Hawkes?" Danny asked, the smirk growing on his face as he considered Mac's theory. "And why this way?"

"Because someone's trying to prove a point." Mac said, and then it hit him. "A bartender took two shots in the chest. The arrest was made based on the single evidence of an eyewitness, the bouncer." Mac shook his head. "It's not much evidence to go on. The average citizen might just believe that the justice system doesn't work." Mac paused. "Sound familiar?"

Stella's jaw dropped. "Shane Casey?"

Danny's eyes narrowed. "That son of a bitch is back?"

* * *

**Grand Regent Lobby  
Manhattan, New York  
November 28, 2006  
9:50 AM**

"Alright, listen up." Flack called and instantly the chatter stopped as he turned to address the officers. "You know what your job is, you know where you're supposed to be. Get there. Keep comms up." He turned on his feet and made his way over to where he was supposed to be, waiting for Mac.

He didn't have to wait long. Mac showed up at exactly 9:58. "Alright, Mac. I'm in position." He paused, allowing Mac to take in the scene. "Must have known there'd be a convention here."

Mac took another two steps in and his phone rang. After a moment of confusion, he pulled a new cell phone out and flipped it open.

"You know, we gotta stop bumping into each other." Shane Casey's voice filled his ear.

"Why'd you bring me here Shane?" Mac's eyes scanned the lobby.

"I need you to get on elevator 5 and stop at floor 25."

"Mac's on the move." Flack spoke.

"I see him, I'm right behind him." Stella replied.

"What game are you playing?" Mac answered the ringing phone.

From the next elevator over, Casey waved a gun in the air. "Well, let's see, it's very simple. I have the gun that will clear Sheldon Hawkes and you want it. All I need you to do is find the evidence that clears my brother's name. He was convicted on the word of a single eyewitness and no evidence. What I need you to do is to find some."

"How do I do that?"

Casey barked out a sarcastic laugh. "I don't know!"

"Framing a man for something he didn't do won't exonerate your brother, Shane."

"Oh, it doesn't seem very fair now when it's happening to one of your own, now does it?" Shane said patronizingly. "Come and get me." He hung up the phone and started up the elevator.

Mac started his elevator again. "Casey's on elevator 6 and has a gun."

"Alright, Casey's going up." Flack said.

"I don't have a view from here." Stella said regretfully.

"Shane Casey's elevator stopped at the top floor." Flack squinted to see a little better.

"That's a restaurant." Stella remarked.

Flack mentally groaned. "Alright, we're going up. Everyone else, stay in position. Shane Casey is armed and dangerous."

* * *

**English Ale House  
Manhattan, New York  
November 28, 2006  
3:17 PM**

The first thing Flack noted when he arrived with his guys in bulletproof vests was the old, rundown building in front of him. He supposed the English Ale House had shut down after the shooting.

The second thing he noted was the lack of CSI's in his presence. After a call from Danny explaining what was going on, he had gathered his guys, dressed appropriately, and left. Danny was the one who should have been there.

Hawkes' case had been really cracked open from the discovery that the GSR in the junkie matched the GSR from the dead bartender. From there (and Flack wasn't completely sure of all the details), it had spun into Danny being the one to prove Shane Casey's brother's innocence in exchange for the gun that would prove Hawkes'…only the CSI's had just proved Ian Casey's guilt. Now Danny was stuck going in there, with the information to prove the guilt, seeing a guy who wanted the exact opposite of that information.

"Flack!" Stella called, exiting the SUV, followed by Mac, Danny, and Lindsay. He turned.

The first thing he noted was the look on Lindsay's face. The look of pure fear, worry, and compassion. Flack knew she was wondering what would happen to Danny inside and he knew she would be the one freaking out if something did go down.

He also knew he would the one hearing about it if something did happen to Danny in there. Because, sure, _Lindsay_ was nice and forgiving…sometimes. But Dallas and Ellie?

Well, let's just say Flack valued his life.

"Ready to go?" He asked his best friend, who nodded cautiously.

Danny's vest was strapped on and his kit in hand. "Ready as ever." He took a step to toward the door. "Eh, what the hell?" He turned, pulled Lindsay close with his free hand, and kissed her. Mac looked away pointedly, Stella's jaw dropped, and Flack took a picture with his Blackberry as he snickered. "In case I never get to do that again." He announced when he pulled away, ignoring Lindsay's bright red cheeks as he pulled his gun out and walked toward the door.

"She's gonna kill him." Flack sniggered to Stella, who nodded while laughing.

* * *

**37****th**** Precinct  
Manhattan, New York  
November 28, 2006  
8:03 PM**

"Look, I'm almost done." Flack said to Liv, slowly writing something on the papers he was working on. "And then we will leave to go pick Hawkes up."

Liv sunk back into her chair. "Well hurry up!"

The precinct was almost empty at this time, most either out on cases or not on duty. The only other person in the room was Detective Mala, and even she was packing her things up to leave.

Liv was impatiently waiting in the precinct for Don to finish because he was going to take her up to Rikers to pick her boyfriend up. The others had all left under the pretense that they had some other place to be or some other thing to do, causing poor Liv much frustration. She just wanted to pick Sheldon up and go home.

Little did she know that Mac was bringing him back already. Flack, of course, did know this, hence why he was pretending to work on paperwork he had finished nearly 20 minutes ago.

Receiving the text he had been waiting for, Flack filed his paperwork away and stood up. "Ready to go?"

"Finally!" Liv jumped up, gathered her things, and followed him to the door. He pushed it open and gestured for her to go outside.

She stopped at the top of the stairs, staring down. It took her only a moment to react with a squeal as she practically leapt down the stairs into her boyfriend's arms.

Hawkes greeted her with a kiss and held her closely as Flack made his way down. "Good to see you man."

"Not nearly as good as it is to see you, my friend." Hawkes grinned and Liv smiled as he pulled her closer. "Thanks, Flack."

Flack nodded, then smirked. "Hey, before you leave, I gotta picture to show you." He pulled out his phone and turned it so they could see.

"Please tell me you sent this to Dal." Liv said, recovering from her laughter.

Flack nodded. "I did. She called me, freaking out. I could hear people laughing in the background."

Hawkes laughed. "Let's just hope Linds doesn't kill him." Flack nodded and laughed. With a final wave, he jogged over to his car and pulled away. Hawkes sighed. "Alright, let's get out of here. I want to go home, go to bed, keep you right there with me, and forget these past few days ever happened." He kissed the side of her head.

"Home." Liv agreed.

* * *

**Danny's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
November 28, 2006  
11:16 PM**

It had been a long day and all he really wanted to do was go home and go to sleep, which was Danny Messer's exact intention, until he reached his doorway and saw the sleeping woman resting against it.

"Montana?" He bent down and gently shook her awake. "Everything alright?"

"No, everything is not alright!" She exclaimed almost immediately. He winced. Ok, this wasn't good. "You can't go around doing…"

"Shhh!" He covered her mouth with his hand. "Come on, let's go inside. You can shout at me all you want." Danny stood up and offered her his hand.

Lindsay glared at him as she took it and pulled herself up. "I'm still mad at you."

Danny unlocked and opened his door before gesturing for her to enter. "After you."

She snatched her purse up from the ground and walked inside. Danny snickered as he followed, stopping only to close and lock his door. Lindsay had gone straight to the kitchen and by the time Danny got there, she had already opened them each a beer and was following him with her eyes.

"Alright, what's wrong?" He said finally, after moments of her staring.

"You can't just do that!" She cried. "You could have died in there today! Shane Casey is insane and you just go waltzing in there like nothing's wrong!" She stopped yelling to mutter something.

"What was that?" Danny asked, not quite hearing her. She muttered it again. "One more time?" He requested, smirk growing. He had a pretty good idea of what she was saying; he just needed to be sure.

"You. Scared. Me." She enunciated slowly and carefully, this time at a normal volume, but still with a trace of anger in her voice. "I know you did it for Hawkes and I respect that, but…" She trailed off and when she spoke again, her voice was softer. "What if something had happened to you and…?" She trailed off again, but this time he knew she had no intention of finishing.

He stepped toward her and used his index finger to guide her chin up so she was looking at him. "I'm not going anywhere, Montana."

Lindsay stepped forward, wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. Absentmindedly, he kissed the top of her head. "Everything's ok now."

And she actually believed him.

* * *

**A/N: So, that concludes Raising Shane. Next chapter is light and fluffy but after that is Silent Night...and it's downhill for a bit from there...Anyway, how was this one? Next chapter should hopefully be up soon.**


	16. Until You Start Modeling Lingerie

**A/N:Thanks everybody, for reading and reviewing. No spoilers this chapter, just some fun.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.

* * *

****Sullivan's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
December 1, 2006  
7:54 PM**

"Fergalicious def, ferfalicious def…"Ellie sang loudly, as she, Liv, and Lindsay made their way to the large table in the back corner, rather than their usual booth

"Someone, please. Make. Her. Stop." Lindsay begged.

Liv groaned and Ellie loudly continued, not caring about the stares she was receiving. "She hasn't stopped singing this all day." Liv slid into the large bar chair next to Hawkes.

As Lindsay sat down next to Danny, she spoke. "Why are we over here tonight?"

"Cause everybody's here." Danny responded. "Look, Peyton's here with Sid and Marty." He pointed to the other end of the table. "And Angell's here." He gestured to where the dark haired detective was chatting with Stella.

Ellie slid into the final open chair, across from Adam, next to Don, still singing. "D to the e to the l-i-c-i-o-u-s."

"You're alive!" Dallas's voice could be heard from where she was walking away from the bar, beer in hand. With the ease that only a former bartender could have, she practically threw her drink on the table, not spilling a drop, as she made her way around the table to hug Hawkes. "Don't go to jail again, ok?"

With a laugh, Hawkes returned her hug. "I'll try."

"'preciate it." Dallas picked up her drink and clinked it against his.

"I'm glad," Hawkes said, as she made her way to the opposite side of the table, toward Don. She frowned, when she reached him, looking left and right.

"There's no seats left!" She exclaimed.

"I'll mo…" Ellie started to offer, but cut herself off when Don pulled Dallas into his lap. "Ok, that works too."

"Hi!" Dallas greeted, turning her head to face him.

"Hi," He said, with an amused smirk, leaning in to kiss her.

Her kiss was short, but sweet, and when they pulled away, Dallas turned and announced, "I brought presents!"

"Yes!" Danny, Lindsay, Ellie, and Stella exclaimed. With a laugh, Dallas pulled her overly large purse up on top the table. From her bag, she pulled out multiple scarves in various colors and dropped them in the center of the table.

There was a scramble as Stella, Lindsay, Ellie, and Liv each reached out and grabbed one. The remaining ones stayed in the center, but the girls' captivation was turned to the Spanish fans Dallas brought out. Each was a different color, with a different pattern, and again, chaos occurred as they each grabbed one.

"Ok, ok!" Danny said impatiently. "Enough with them. Us now."

Dallas bit her lip. "Before I give these to you two," She looked back and forth between Danny and Don. "You have to promise that they will not be used."

"You don't like promises." Don smirked.

Dallas turned so she was facing him. "I will take your present right back to Spain."

"Shutting up now." He looked down and Danny snickered.

"That goes for you too." Dallas told him and Danny looked down too, while Dallas reached down and pulled a large plastic bag up.

"No way, you bought swords! Guys, she bought swords!" Adam snatched one out of her hand.

"You are my favorite angel!" Danny grabbed his out of her hand.

"Why would you do this?" Stella asked, as she looked on.

"I didn't realize what a stupid idea it was until after I bought them." Dallas said, passing one down to Mac. "It's a Sword from Toledo."

"Thank you, Dallas." Mac said, examining his. "I'll hang it in my office."

"Yeah, thanks." Hawkes and Adam chorused.

"_Grazie_, Buke." Danny brandished his, only to be smacked by Lindsay.

"Put that away!" She said. "That's a real sword."

Danny's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Dallas nodded. "In some countries, they still use them."

Danny looked on in amazement while everyone laughed. "Thanks, babe." Don kissed her cheek.

Dallas grinned cheekily and whispered, "I have another present for you…but you probably don't want it here." A smirk crossed his face and she giggled before addressing everyone. "I do have another present for everyone, but I don't think we should drink it here. I'll save it for another night."

"That's probably a good idea." Liv said. "There's enough alcohol as it is to make the swords dangerous. We don't need anymore." There were many nods in agreement.

"You are definitely my favorite angel." Danny said, leaning across the table, and in true Italian style, kissing both her cheeks.

"Should I be offended by that?" Angell asked teasingly.

Danny shook his head. "Sorry, Angell. Until you start modeling lingerie, you'll never be the favorite angel...but you're a close second." He added hastily and everyone laughed.

"If we get all padded up," Adam spoke, still examining his sword. "can we have a sword fight with these?"

"_Quem com ferro mata, com ferro more_" Dallas replied.

"And that means?" Hawkes prompted.

"He who kills with iron, dies with iron." Immediately, all swords were placed under the table.

"Let's do something tomorrow." Stella suggested. "Go shopping or something, us girls."

"No." Don interjected before anyone could respond. "You guys got her before she went away, I get her tomorrow." He pulled Dallas closer, emphasizing his point.

"Selfish much?" Lindsay teased.

Before Don could say anything, the beginning chords of "Fergalicious" came through the speakers, causing Ellie to scream. "Come dance with me!" She pulled Dallas off of Don's lap and onto the dance floor, where multiple other people had gathered.

Liv groaned. "I have never hated this song more in my life." But it wasn't long before she and Lindsay went to join their best friends. Stella and Angell were next to leave and they stayed only for a few songs before returning with Liv and Lindsay.

Minutes later, Ellie returned. "Ok, who needs a drink? Dal's at the bar right now; she'll bring back what we need." Orders were shouted and Ellie hastily texted them to Dallas.

When five minutes had passed and she still hadn't returned, Lindsay's comment on where Dallas was had everyone looking toward the bar.

"Well that's surprising." Ellie's sarcasm was clear. "A guy hitting on Dallas? Nothing new." Which was true. Frequently, the girls would go to bars and within seconds of arrival, some guy was coming up to their model friend.

"He's awfully close." Don noted.

"She'll be over in a second." Liv said confidently. "Nobody shuts people down like Dallas does."

"Seriously, the girl's got talent." Ellie added.

It wasn't for another minute before Don jumped out of his seat to help her. Dallas had been clearly denying the guy, shaking her head, twisting her body away from him, even going so far as to continuously take steps backward (counteracted by the steps forward taken by her admirer).

When the bartender placed Dallas' refills in front of her, she had said something to her admirer before turning to grab her drinks. Her hand had reached out to take the drinks and the admirer had grabbed Dallas's arm pulling her away from them and closer to him.

"Problem?" Don asked, stepping up next to Dallas.

"Nope," The guy said, still holding onto Dallas's arm. Don's eyes locked on it.

"Yep." Dallas answered.

"Great." Don looked straight at the man holding his girlfriend's arm. "You have exactly one minute to let go of her arm, get your shit, and leave the bar."

"Or what?"

Lifting the bottom of his shirt, Don flashed his badge, clipped to his waist. "Wanna spend the night in jail?"

Almost instantly, Dallas's arm was free and her admirer was no longer seen. Don turned toward her. "You alright?"

She nodded, but it was extremely unconvincing, so he stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her. After her initial flinch (much larger than the one he was used to now), she returned the gesture and rested her head against his chest. "You wanna leave?" He asked.

She pulled away and shook her head. "No, I wanna see everybody." She reached out and took some of the drinks from the bar.

Don shook his head as he grabbed the rest. "So goddamn stubborn," He muttered.

"I heard that." But a smile crossed her face as she turned to look at him and he was so relieved that he smiled too.

They arrived back at the table in time to see everyone look at them and laugh. "Do I want to know?" Don asked, passing out drinks before settling down in his seat and pulling Dallas back on his lap.

"Just discussing how similar you two are." Lindsay laughed.

"What does that mean?" Dallas asked suspiciously.

"You both make excuses for things." Lindsay teased, but both Dallas and Don still looked confused.

"Ask your boyfriend how many phone numbers he got on his first day back at work." Danny took a sip of his beer while Dallas turned her head, looking at Don inquisitively.

"Eight," He admitted, not bothering to hide the smug grin on his face, as he accepted a high five from his girlfriend.

"You high-fived that?" Marty asked, clearly shocked about Don's girlfriend being proud of him for collecting eight numbers in one day.

"Well, yeah," Dallas said. "Eight numbers in one day? That's pretty impressive. I mean, if he was at a bar, yeah, that'd be different, but for a work day? That's high-five-able." Only Dallas would make eight phone numbers sound small.

Stella laughed with the others as she leaned toward Dallas. "When I walked on our crime scene his first day back, the first thing I see is him surrounded by women. And when I asked him about it…"

"Asked me?" Don jumped in. "You gave me some line about impressing fans." He teased.

Stella ignored him. "And when I asked him about it, he responds with 'They were concerned about my recovery. I was just putting them at ease'."

"Ohh, that's a good one." Dallas took out her phone. "Mind if I tell that to Naish?"

Don shook his head while everyone laughed.

"You guys really are the same person." Liv laughed. "That's almost as bad as Knicks guy."

"Knicks guys?" Danny said skeptically.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dallas said at the same time, holding her hands up defensively. "First of all, it was 2003, we were 15 and 24. I was _trying_ to boost morale. Second of all, it was LA. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Knicks fan in LA?" Practically impossible, so when I saw him in a Knicks shirt, yeah, it had to be done."

"I rest my case." Lindsay said, amidst the laughter of everyone at the table.

* * *

**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
December 2, 2006  
1:03 AM**

It was late when Don and Dallas returned to her apartment and despite her earlier, proposition, the only thing either one wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep for hours. Dallas began her laundry while Don hopped in the shower, and as soon as he got out, she got in, while he answered his ringing phone.

When he returned to her bedroom, he was greeted with a welcome sight. Dallas was wearing only his shirt as she bent over slightly, riffling through her drawers. With a smile on his face, he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

He was not expecting her to shriek. He wasn't expecting the noticeable flinch that traveled up her body. And he certainly wasn't expecting her to practically leap away from him, causing her to hit the side of her hip against the sharp point of the dresser.

"_Merda_," Dallas swore, placing one hand over her heart and the other on her injured hip. "You scared the shit out of me."

But he knew that wasn't what caused her to react like that. "What happened?" Don asked.

Dallas looked confused in response to his question. "Uhh, I jumped into the dresser?" She said uncertainly.

"After you flinched like I was about to attack you." He shot back.

Her eyes narrowed as she (unsuccessfully) tried to hold back a flinch. "Sorry," She said dryly. "I wasn't expecting you to be there."

"You knew I was here, though," He argued. "And you know that I'm _not_ going to attack you. There's no need to flinch every time I reach out to touch you."

"Yeah, well, you're gonna have to get used to that!" She said hotly, showing the Italian in her as her hands flew around. "I'm always gonna be that girl, the one who flinches when you touch her." She glared. "And no, I don't actually know that you won't 'attack' me." She used air quotes as she deepened her voice, to show that she was quoting him. "My dad beat me, my stepfather attacked me, and random guys come up to me in bars and grab me; why would I expect anyone _not_ to attack me?"

Silence overcame the two. "I…I'm…sorry." He said.

"I don't want you to be sorry that it happened." Dallas said flatly. "It's done. Over with."

"Well I am sorry that it happened." Don told her, slowly stepping toward her and taking both of her hands in his. "I'm sorry that it happened, I'm sorry you went through it, I'm sorry I brought it up now, and I'm sorry for making think I'd attack you, because I never will. And maybe you'll always _be_ that girl who flinches, but I'll be that guy who keeps trying."

Dallas removed her hands from his and wrapped them around his neck. Don's arms made his way around her waist, holding her close. "Can we just go to bed now?" She asked softly.

He kissed the side of her head softly. "Anything you want babe."

* * *

**A/N: **So we have some time with the team and then a bit of Dallas/Don because they'll be on backburner for a little bit, starting next chapter. So let me know what you think and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!


	17. A Puddle on the Floor

**A/N:** Ahhhh, don't hate me! I'm soooo sorry it's been so long since the last update (way too many months). I was stuck for a little about how I wanted this to go, but I then I got on track and started writing, but got a new laptop and took that to school with me but left the story at home on the old computer, but now I'm home for the weekend so now I have to story on the laptop, which comes with me, so I'll be able to write when I have time between classes. A good thing because I now have a pretty good idea of where we're going in the relative immediate future.

Anyway, thank you for the reviews for last chapter, and sticking with me during that awfully long break. I'll try to keep the next one a little shorter.

**Disclaimer: **I only own the OCs.

_Slight spoilers for 3x12: Silent Night and 314: The Lying Game_

* * *

**Sullivan's Bar  
Manhattan, New York  
December 5, 2006  
9:48 PM**

"I mean, why is she even leaving for a date at 10 anyway?" Dallas ranted to Don, who was now used to her rants and took no notice as he sat down with Adam, Marty, Sid, and Liv. "She's totally going home with him tonight."

"You think?" Don raised his eyebrow skeptically. Dallas had been ranting about Ellie's date for the past ten minutes, but it didn't seem to him that Ellie was really that type.

His girlfriend nodded. "Why else would they be going out for dinner at 10?"

"We go out at 10 all the time babe," He reminded her, tossing his arm around her shoulders as she sat down next to him.

Dallas had no response to that, but Liv laughed. "Finally, she's silenced."

"Shut up," Dallas dipped her fingers in Don's soda and flicked them at her friend.

"HEY!" Liv mimicked Dallas's actions.

"It wasn't like I was going to drink that or anything," Don said; he was on call that night and therefore unable to consume alcohol of any kind.

"Yeah, whatever," Dallas waved his statement away. "We're talking about Ellie's date right now."

"Ellie has a date?" Adam turned toward Dallas so fast she was afraid he would get whiplash.

"Yeah," Dallas said. "With some guy we went to school with. He's a major tool."

Liv snickered. "Just because his brother was obsessed with you, doesn't mean that _he_'s a bad guy."

"Obsessed?" Don turned toward Dallas.

"Oh my God, yes," Liv said. "He was the star quarterback, first one to lead the team to a championship in over 60 years, and he was in love with her."

"Uh huh," Don gestured for Liv to continue.

"That's ok," Dallas said, trying to smack his hand out of the air. It ended up in a hand wrestling match as Liv continued anyway.

"In our first week there, Dal got us invited to a frat party by one of the football guys. We played King of the Table Flip Cup with the football team, and she won, effectively starting an obsession."

"You won King of the Table Flip Cup?" Marty said, interestedly. "Against the football team." Dallas nodded. "Flack, where do you find these girls and why are there never more of them?"

Everyone laughed as Adam turned the conversation away. "So why does Ellie have a date?"

"Because she wants one?" Dallas looked confused. "I don't know; I'm not her."

"Might as well be," Liv teased.

"Can I start calling you Lindsay then?"

"No,"

"Damn,"

"Where's the Maserati dress?" Ellie stood at the edge of the table, dressed in a short, tight, emerald green dress. Her blonde hair was curled to perfection and a bit of light make-up had been applied to make her blue-ish green eyes pop.

"Your mom has it, why?" Dallas turned toward her friend.

"I wanted to wear it tonight."

Dallas let out a low whistle. "You wanted to wear the Maserati dress on a first date? You really are asking for it" She laughed.

A sly grin crossed over Ellie's face. "I stole something from the Christmas box." Dallas's eyes narrowed. "Not the good stuff. Stuff from the other box."

"Good,"

"What is the Maserati dress and what is the Christmas box?" Don asked the question all the guys were thinking.

"It's this little black dress that Dal got to keep after she did the Maserati shoot." Ellie said. "It's gorgeous, but you wouldn't generally wear it on a first date if you're planning on starting an actual relationship because it is wayyyyy short,"

"It covers what it needs to cover." Dallas defended.

"Barely," Liv teased.

A grin flickered across Don's face. "So when do I get to see this Maserati dress?"

Ellie giggled. "You'll see the Christmas box before the Maserati dress,"

"That was a surprise!" Dallas exclaimed.

"You hate surprises," Don smirked.

"I hate when people surprise me, but I love planning surprises. Like this one!"

Liv rolled her eyes. "Every year, Victoria's Secret sends them all the entire Christmas collection,"

Don blinked a couple of times. "So, uhh, why are we here?"

Dallas smiled, feigning innocence and sweetness. "Because you're on call tonight."

"God dammit," Don muttered, just as his phone went off. "I'm out; you want a ride home?"

Dallas bit her lip, as she checked the time. "Yeah, I guess."

"You're leaving me all alone with these guys?" Liv gestured to Adam, Marty, and Sid.

Dallas nodded apologetically. "Yeah, I have an interview tomorrow morning. TV Premier of the fashion show is tomorrow night."

"Fun!" Ellie cried.

Dallas laughed as Don pulled her toward the door. "Look for me on Regis and Kelly tomorrow!"

"I'm out too guys," Ellie said. "See y'all later." She followed Don and Dallas out of the bar.

"I have a…a thing." Adam stood abruptly and followed in the footsteps of the three before him.

"What's his deal?" Marty used his thumb to point at the spot Adam vacated.

"Oh he's got a crush of Ellie," Liv said lightly. "He's just jealous of her date. Let's hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

* * *

**St. Luke's Hospital Cafeteria  
Manhattan, New York  
December 6, 2006  
2:15 PM**

"Thank God you're here!" Liv grabbed her boyfriend's arm.

"Glad to see you too?" Hawkes laughed as he greeted her with a kiss.

"Yeah, yeah, nice to see you. Can we go sit down?"

Hawkes nodded, beginning to worry, but followed his girlfriend, nonetheless. She sat down at a table in the corner, and waited patiently while he pulled two sandwiches out of a bag.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?" He asked patiently.

Liv took a deep breath and then spoke. "I need you to look after Lindsay today."

"She left the crime scene last night." Hawkes said softly.

"I know," Liv said, equally as soft. "I can't tell you why. She's ok, or rather, she'll be ok. But she needs someone to look after her that isn't going to ask questions or put pressure on her."

"This all has to do with why she can't be with Danny doesn't it?"

A deep breath. "Yes." Another one. "But I just can't tell you right now."

Hawkes took one look at her face and agreed. "I'll look after Lindsay."

"Thank you," Liv smiled.

"You will tell me what's going on one day, right?"

"As soon as Dal tells Flack."

"We'll make an evening out of it."

"Maybe he'll get to see the Maserati dress then," Liv took one look at her boyfriend's face and laughed, before explaining the previous night.

* * *

**37****th**** Precinct  
Manhattan, New York  
December 6, 2006  
11:06 PM**

"Flack," He answered more out of habit than anything. Since he was already at work, the only person who'd be calling him was Dallas. He was half right; it was her phone, but not her.

"I just wanted to let you know that your girlfriend is currently having some kind of attack over Justin Timberlake," Gisele Bündchen giggled through the phone.

Don leaned back in his chair, glad for the distraction. "She also wants the Fantasy Bra back; she's been whining about it for weeks."

"I know, right?" Gisele laughed. "Wah, wah, wah."

"I can hear you!" He heard Dallas call from the background.

"I think you were supposed to," Alessandra Ambrosio called back.

"You guys all chilling out tonight?" He asked Gisele.

"Huh?"

"Hanging out uhh spending time together."

"Yes," She giggled. "It's our annual slumber party. So don't come home when you're done."

"Telling me there's a slumber party of the most beautiful women in the world in my girlfriend's apartment does not discourage me from coming over," He teased. "If anything, it makes me want to come over _more_."

"Well don't," Gisele said. "She's all yours tomorrow. We'll be gone by noon. I'll tie her to the bed in Christmas lingerie. It will be my gift to you."

"Hey!" Dallas protested loudly. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Sounds like a plan," Don ignored her with a grin. "See you at noon Gisele."

"Bye Don," The girls all chorused back and then the call ended.

With a shake of his head and the promise of a day off, he went back to work.

She didn't have to be tied to the bed, but they were definitely breaking out that Christmas box.

* * *

**Panera Bread  
Manhattan, New York  
December 12, 2006  
12:53 PM**

"I'm worried about Lindsay," Stella said, breaking off a piece of her toffee flavored cookie and popping it in her mouth. She, Lindsay, Ellie, Liv, and Dallas had met for lunch to discuss Danny's birthday, which fell in the upcoming week. Lindsay had been called out to a scene only a minute before.

"Yeah, me too," Dallas said. "I asked her if she wanted to go shopping for Danny's birthday this week and she just gave me this look before she started freaking out. She completely forgot about his birthday!"

"She remembers everyone's birthdays!" Ellie said; Liv fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I'm sure she would have remembered before the day," Dallas said, not noticing Liv attempting to slide down on the floor. "And I mean, if she still hasn't gotten him something, she still has three days to find something, but I'm pretty sure she has now. But like, it was just weird, I mean for her, you know? Cause she's usually so on top of things."

"She's been really distracted lately," Stella said. "Like at work? She does everything she needs to, but she does it on auto-pilot and Liv, dear god, why are you trying to turn into a puddle on the floor?"

"Damn, I was hoping no one noticed." Liv said. "They didn't," She pointed at Dallas and Ellie.

"CSI," Stella pointed at herself. "Now what do you know that we don't?"

"Well, she did get Danny a present," Liv confirmed. "That's about it."

Stella raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Somehow I doubt that,"

"Now I understand why you investigate criminals for a living," Liv grumbled, looking uncomfortable. "You're really intimidating."

"The people I investigate are a little more hardcore than you," Stella teased. "They don't find me nearly as intimidating. Now spill!"

Liv sighed, fidgeting some more. "Lindsay got a letter."

"A letter?"

"Yeah, from the Prosecutor in Montana,"

"Another one?" Dallas asked.

"She got one before?"

"Yeah, a while ago. Just saying that they caught the guy who did it and they were going to put him on trial."

"Yeah, well, this one was telling her what they were charging him with and that they need her to come home for a while and testify. At the trial." Liv paused, then finished softly. "She leaves tomorrow."

* * *

**New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
December 13, 2006  
4:23 PM**

It didn't take Lindsay long to say good-bye to everyone she needed to, with the exception of one.

Stella and Mac had been easy enough, both telling her to call if she needed anything or if she just wanted to talk to get away. Hawkes and Adam had both been incredibly sweet, trying to joke around to cheer her up. Dallas, Ellie, and Liv all knew how this secret had tortured her for years and understood just how much this trial would help her. Flack had been the second hardest person to say by to, only because of something she had to tell him something fairly unpleasant.

And now, all that left, was Danny. She was waiting in their office, reorganizing some files as she waited for her taxi to come, half hoping Danny would walk inside and she could get a hug and half hoping he just wouldn't show and she could leave easily. Finally, she got the call she needed; her taxi was here.

And Danny still wasn't. She bit her lip softly, before picking the envelope up and kissing the seal. "Please don't be mad at me," She said softly, and then picking up her bags to head outside.

She saw him, walking down the street, and contemplated stopping him. But then she realized how hard it would be to leave if she did.

She was sure she needed to take care of this trial. She wasn't sure she would let herself leave if she talked to him.

So she continued on to the airport, promising herself to call him, at some point, during this trial.

* * *

**A/N: **Let me know what you think? Reviews give me inspiration, which will help updates come even faster!


	18. I Have a Sister, Uh huh Ok

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Glad you liked it. Here's next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

* * *

**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
December 13, 2006  
7:08 PM**

Don knocked loudly on his girlfriend's door, impatiently waiting for her to unlock it. He supposed he should be happy that she was taking his advice and locking her door, but frankly, he was pissed, so some pride would have to wait.

He banged on the door again, hoping to alleviate some anger. This time, she opened, towel drying her wet hair, greeting him with a smile. "Hey," She stepped aside, clearing a path for him to walk in.

"Hey," He said flatly, stepping past her, watching carefully as she closed and locked the door.

"Were you standing out there for a while?" She asked. "Sorry, I just got out of the shower, but if you weren't so stubborn about the doors being locked, you could have been in here watching TV or something."

Don ignored her last statement. "I talked to Lindsay today,"

Dallas nodded. "Yeah, her plane just took off actually. She'll be in Montana late tonight and she starts prepping for the trial with the prosecution later this week. I think she's upset about missing Danny's birthday but she'll…"

He cut her off. "Were you ever planning on telling me someone was following you everywhere?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Someone's not following me everywhere."

"Not what Monroe said."

Dallas groaned. "This is why I didn't want to tell you."

"What, because you don't trust me?"

"No, because I knew you'd react like this." She shot back.

"Oh and what's that?"

"You're freaking out, Don, over something that's not even a big deal."

"Somebody is following you around!" He exclaimed. "You know how many people I see dead, because someone was stalking them."

"We don't know I'm being stalked," She rationalized.

"What other possible explanation is there?" He roared; she flinched, and as bad as he felt, he didn't move.

"You're seriously mad about this?" Dallas glared at him. "I can fucking take care of myself Don; I've been doing it for 25 years and up until two months ago, I didn't have you around to come running to every time something went wrong in my life." She hesitated. "I didn't want you to worry and it's not…it's not easy for me to trust people, Don, and…"

Again, he cut her off and when he did his voice was ice cold. "And you obviously don't trust me at all." She opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head and turned, walking out the door and slamming it shut behind him.

She stared at it for the longest time. "What the fuck just happened?"

* * *

**Ellie's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
December 13, 2006  
7:10 PM**

Adam raised his fist for the tenth time, trying to get the courage to knock on the door. And then he lowered it.

Over the past two weeks, Ellie had been on more dates than he cared to count. And it was driving him crazy. So he was finally going to do something.

Now he just had to figure out what. Hence, why he kept raising and lowering his fist. Then he finally did it; he knocked on the door.

He was planning on saying something along the lines of "I'm absolutely crazy about you and these random dates you're having have got to stop" and was going to finish it off with a kiss, until she actually opened the door.

Her blonde hair was pulled in a messy bun and she was wearing a baggy t-shirt and sweat pants. Her face was red and puffy and her eyes were glassy.

Years of having to deal with an older sister told him that either someone died or she had a bad break-up. Horribly enough, he hoped it was the first one; he wasn't sure he could handle helping her through a break-up. Although he couldn't think of who could possibly have broken-up with her.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked.

Ellie shook her head angrily. "I'm just sick of people looking at me, seeing blonde, and thinking stupid and easy. I went to dinner with an asshole, who had his hand in between my legs before the salad even came." Adam inwardly groaned. "Needless to say, the date was over before it even began."

Just like Adam's reason for stopping by.

She gave him a small smile. "I was just watching a Walk to Remember. You wanna come in?"

"Do I want to come in and watch girly movies with you?" He pretended to think about it. "Well, not really," He cracked a grin. "But I will anyway."

Ellie smiled at him, and in the smile, all the chick flicks in the world would be worth sitting through just to see that smile again. "Thanks Adam," She stepped forward and gave him a hug. "You're always there for me like no other guy is."

"Yeah, well, I try." He returned her embrace, enjoying the feeling of having her close. "Come on, we don't want to leave Landon alone on screen too long, do we?"

"How do you know his name's Landon?" Ellie cracked a grin. Adam paled. "Busted!"

"I have a sister!" He defended.

"Uh-huh, ok."

* * *

**Madison Square Garden  
Manhattan, New York  
December 16, 2006  
6:45PM**

"Happy Birthday Danny!" Dallas greeted him with a hug, as Danny and his two companions filed into their seats.

"It's your birthday?" Adriana Lima leaned over Dallas and also hugged him. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you," Danny returned her hug. "You remember Marty, right Buke?" Dallas nodded and smiled. "And this is Paul," he gestured to the tall man sitting next to him.

"Adriana," Dallas tilted her head toward her friend.

"How'd you get five floor seats Buke?" Danny asked, clearly impressed.

"I didn't; I have four. Ad's here because of her boyfriend," She sing-songed the last word, clearly teasing her friend.

"He's not my boyfriend," Adriana glared.

"Not yet!" Dallas waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Adriana looked at Danny. "Why are we friends with her?"

"I'm friends with her because she gives me floor tickets to the Knicks for my birthday," Danny shrugged. "I don't know why you're friends with her."

"Man, I need to befriend you before my birthday," Paul grinned at Dallas.

"When's your birthday?"

"April 14."

Dallas's eyes popped open. "Mine too!" She held a hand up for a high-five. "Birthday twins!"

Danny snickered as Paul high-fived her. "Actual twins. You're the same age."

Adriana laughed at the look of excitement on Dallas's face. "You're so weird."

Dallas ignored her. "So how did you meet Paul, Danny? I didn't know you even knew people outside NYPD."

Paul laughed as Danny smirked, knowing there was something weird between her and Flack, and that what he was about to say would give him the upper hand. "No, actually, his parents are friends with Flack's parents; they grew up together." Dallas's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

"You know Don?" Paul looked at her, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," She said shortly.

Danny grinned. "She's his girlfriend."

"So you're the mystery girl?" Paul grinned. "Man, both our families' have been dyin' to meet you."

"Doesn't look like that'll be happening soon," Dallas snapped.

Danny shot her a look. "Why not?"

"We haven't talked in three days since he came to my apartment to scream at me."

"No, you can't break up with Don," Adriana whined. "We all like him; he has to stay around."

Dallas shrugged. "He thinks I don't trust him."

"Because?" Danny prompted.

"I didn't tell him something because I didn't want him to overreact and worry; I did, however, make the mistake of telling Lindsay, who made the executive decision that she should tell Don before she left for Montana in case something happened to me. Now, he's mad because I didn't tell him and I'm mad because he started shouting at me like he's my father or something." She ranted. "As I told him, and before you say anything, I've been taking care of myself for 25 years and I don't need him to come running to help me out with every little problem." Danny opened his mouth to speak, but Dallas cut him off. "No, Danny, I really don't want to hear it right now; He has no right coming into my apartment and _shouting_ at me. Yes, it is probably something I should have told him, but he went about this the completely wrong way. He was mad when he walked in, I have no idea why, and he took that out on me, so I'll give him a couple more days and then talk to him."

"He's miserable, you know?" Danny offered. "Distracted, kinda like how Linds was before she left."

"He never gets miserable over girls," Paul offered, just trying to help.

Dallas shook her head. "Guys, I appreciate it, but really, it'll just be a few more days and we'll talk and things will hopefully be fine." She paused, and both knew she was done talking about this. "The game's about to start."

* * *

**Barney's  
Manhattan, New York  
December 16, 2006  
8:25 PM**

"I love that feeling of finishing your Christmas shopping," Liv grinned, as she and Sheldon stepped into the masses of pedestrians on the streets of Manhattan, both their arms filled with bags.

"Finished?" Sheldon asked, raising his eyebrow.

She nodded. "Yeah, I like to finish my Christmas shopping relatively early. Avoid the masses that final week before Christmas." Liv smiled. "Are you not finished yet?"

Sheldon gave her a grin. "Almost. I want to get one more little thing for my uncle and then something else for my parents, besides what we got them." His grin turned into a cocky half-smirk, more signature for Danny or Don. "And of course, I still have to pick up that one little thing for you."

Liv's jaw dropped. "You said you finished shopping for me already!"

He nodded, still smirking. "I did. I just have to pick this one up."

She shrugged. "Well, we're out right now. Might as well grab it while we're here…"

"Nice try," Sheldon winked. "I know you peeked at what I got you. So this one's not coming home yet."

Liv pouted. "You are no fun."

Sheldon transferred all the bags he was carrying into his right hand and swung his left arm around her shoulders. "I'll have redeemed myself when you open it on Christmas morning,"

"Then it better be damn good."

"It is," He kissed her softly. "It is,"

* * *

**A/N: So no Lindsay this chapter, but we will stop by and see how she's doing next chapter =] Drop a review and let me know what you think!**


	19. A Tolerance for Tequila

**A/N: Thanks for reading, reviewing, and sticking with me for so long! Sorry about the wait; I had a bunch of labs and exams in a row and didn't have time to proofread this but it's done now so here it is! Hopefully the next chapter will be up later this week!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

* * *

**Crime Scene  
Brooklyn, New York  
December 18, 2006  
9:54 AM**

"Just you today, Stell?" Don asked, greeting her with a smile as she stepped under the tape.

Stella shook her head. "Nah, Mac sent Danny here too. He was running a little late for work, so he's meeting me here." She placed one of the two kits she was holding by the door. "Let him know that's here, will you?"

"Could you stop with the shouting please?" Danny asked, ducking under the tape, his voice a little quieter than usual.

"Look like shit, Messer," Don commented, exchanging a grin with Stella.

"That's 'cause _your_ girlfriend drank us into the ground."

Stella shrugged. "Well, Danny, you knew you had work today. You shouldn't have stayed out so late last night."

Danny looked at her. "This is from Saturday night," He said flatly. "Well technically, Sunday morning."

Don frowned. "Is she ok?"

Danny glared. "Yeah, she's fine and dandy," He said sarcastically. "She's mad about whatever fight you two had and made me and Paul suffer by keeping up with her drinking after the game Saturday night." He shook his head. "Do you have any idea how much tequila that girl can drink? I woke up on her floor, still smashed, no memory of anything after going into the bar, I'm pretty sure Paul has not yet left the guestroom except to get to the bathroom and the kitchen because he's _still_ not able to walk straight, and she wakes up around 3 Sunday afternoon, peppy as can be!" He groaned, covering his eyes with his hands, as Stella and Don exchanged another grin. "No one should have that much tolerance for tequila. Ever." And he picked up his kit and went into the bedroom.

"You're in a fight with Dallas?" Stella asked gently.

Don shook his head. "We'll be fine Stell; we just need to sit down and talk for a little. She just needs to stop being so stubborn."

Stella gave him a small smile. "She probably thinks that about you,"

* * *

**New York Crime Lab  
Manhattan, New York  
December 18, 2006  
12:01 PM**

"Hey Danny," He heard Dallas chirp as she finally answered her phone.

"I think you owe me coffee." He said. "Big time. I've barely been able to function today because of your drinking habits Saturday night."

"How 'bout lunch?" Dallas laughed. "I'm meeting my brother. If you'd like to come, you're more than welcome to."

"From the stories I've heard about your brothers, I'm not so sure I'm ready to meet one right now," He said, his eyes scanning his email, hoping for one from Lindsay.

Dallas burst into laughter. "Danny, you met him already. We went to a diner with him around 4 on Sunday morning."

"That explains why I don't remember," Danny grumbled. "Alright, what time?"

"12:30 over at Billy's Bakery,"

"Alright, see you there," He ended the call and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, looking at his inbox once more.

"Ehh, screw it," He sat back down, pulling open a new email, and began to type.

* * *

**Monroe Ranch  
Bozeman, Montana  
December 18, 2006  
3:36 PM**

"I'm back Mom," Lindsay hung her coat on the rack and slipped her shoes off, before heading to the kitchen to see her mom.

"How'd everything go today?" It was easy to tell which parent Lindsay got her looks from. Anna Monroe had the same curly brown hair, though hers was streaked with some gray, and the same hazel eyes as her daughter. Up until Lindsay had hit middle school, she had been a full time mother, but once that point hit, she took a job at the local elementary school as a kindergarten teacher, where she was still teaching now.

"Good, Lindsay said, sitting down at the table in front of her mom's laptop. "Prosecutor seems nice. Said he'll try and get this over with as quickly as possible, but the whole thing's still going to take a while. You mind if I use this?" She gestured to the laptop.

"No, go ahead." Anna said. "Did he say how long?"

Lindsay paused in opening her email to look at her mom. "Months," She said finally.

"Oh, honey," Anna came up behind her daughter and wrapped her arms around her, resting her chin on Lindsay's head. "You'll be back in New York soon enough, and Liv's coming home for Christmas, isn't she?"

Lindsay nodded, leaning back against her mom. "Yeah, and Dallas said she would stop by for a little after Christmas if I was still here. Which I will be." She sighed. "I just miss him—them." She hastened to correct.

Anna smiled knowingly, but didn't say anything as she pulled away from her daughter. "Chicken parm okay for dinner?"

Lindsay nodded, not really paying attention, as she had just spotted an email from Danny. Her breath caught in her throat as she clicked it and waited for it to open. "Jesus Christ Mom, your internet is slower than dial up."

"Lindsay, just because you are used to fancy schmancy high tech gadgets in New York, doesn't mean you can come into my house criticizing my things." Anna mock-scolded. "You used to have to use this all the time."

Lindsay laughed. "I guess I just forgot." She grinned as Danny's email finally popped open and began to read.

_Hey Montana,_

_Just dropping an email to see how things were going. It's been a rough day here. Buke took me to the Knicks Saturday night but she's in a fight with Flack and we ended up drinking straight through dawn. The hangover's killing me!_

_If you need anything, just let me know. Or if you just want to talk._

_-Danny_

_P.S. If you have any tips for getting rid of the worst hangover ever, please share. Sooner rather than later._

With a smile, Lindsay clicked reply and began typing.

**Ellie's Apartment**

* * *

**Manhattan, New York  
December 18, 2006  
7:05 PM**

"Linds, you should have seen him. He literally could not look into direct light until two hours ago. I turned the light table on by accident, and he ducked under it, refusing to come out until I turned the table off and stepped away from the switch." Stella laughed, looking at Lindsay's face, while the Montana native cracked up.

"Where could Dallas possibly have taken him that he drank that much?" Lindsay asked her. Lindsay, Stella, Ellie, and Liv were skyping in Ellie's apartment, waiting for Dallas to join, so they could have a partial girls night. Well, the four in New York were going to have a girls night. Lindsay was going to have dinner with her parents and then go visit a friend of theirs in just a few minutes.

"He mentioned something about a fight between Dal and Don, and some line about how no one should have that much tolerance for tequila."

Ellie, Liv, and Lindsay burst into laughter. "No wonder he was still hungover Monday." Ellie laughed, brushing a tear from her eye.

At Stella's look of confusion, Liv explained. "Dal drinks tequila like it's water. We have _never_ met _anyone_ who can keep up with her tequila drinking."

"Not at all surprised Danny's still hungover from a tequila night with her." Lindsay added.

Suddenly, the door opened and Dallas walked in, holding both hands up triumphantly. "I am so getting laid in February."

"Yeah…we already knew that…" Ellie teased.

"Excuse me?" Stella asked.

"She got the…OOF" Ellie was cut off by Dallas, who had raced over from the door and tackled her friend off the seat, covering Ellie's mouth with her hand.

"That's a secret!" Dallas exclaimed.

Liv rolled her eyes. "She got the Sports Illustrated cover this year. The Swimsuit Edition."

Stella's eyes widened. "Does Flack know?"

Dallas shook her head. "No, the only people that know are you guys, my brothers, and Ellie's brother. Plus the SI execs, Rolling Stone, and the guy from GQ I interview with tomorrow, so please don't say anything."

"GQ?" Lindsay asked.

Dallas shot up. "LINDSAY! I didn't see you there."

"That's ok," Lindsay told her. "I only saw you as a blur." Dallas stuck her tongue out as the others all laughed. "Go on, about GQ."

"Ok, so I shot the cover today and I do an interview with somebody tomorrow. It's for the March edition, which means it'll come out late February, right after Sports Illustrated."

"Poor Don," Liv said. "He's going to literally have to _fight_ people off you."

"I don't feel bad for him at all," Lindsay said. "His reward will be his girlfriend on two magazine covers in practically nothing and a box of Valentine's Day lingerie. Then he just has to wait two months before the birthday lingerie comes and after that it's summer when she's in bikinis all the time."

"Do they send you lingerie for every holiday or something?" Stella turned to Dallas.

"No. Just Christmas, Valentine's and birthday. But if we're still together by Halloween, I spend that in lingerie too."

"Trust me, Stell, the three boxes she gets have more than enough stuff in them to last the year." Liv said.

Stella shook her head. "They give you free lingerie _and_ free spa days. I'm in the wrong profession."

"Do you think we could convince Mac to give us free spa days?" Lindsay asked seriously.

"I'm going to try." Stella said. "Something about detoxifying ourselves and cleansing the crime off us." She shrugged. "The department pays for therapy. Maybe I could somehow file this under that…" She trailed off.

"I doubt it," Lindsay grinned. "But it was a nice thought." She looked at her watch. "I really have to go, guys, sorry, but I miss you all, and let's definitely do this again sometime."

"Bye Linds!" Stella, Dallas, Ellie, and Liv chorused, before the chat went black.

For a minute, they just sat. "It's weird she's not here," Ellie said.

"Definitely," The other three agreed, before trekking to the kitchen to pick out a menu.

* * *

**Don's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
December 19, 2006  
3:47 AM**

Don awoke to a banging on his door and instantly turned to check his clock, sure that it was not an appropriate hour to be knocking at. He was correct; it wasn't. Annoyed, he slipped a pair of sweatpants on and shuffled his way to the door, not bothering to check who was outside.

Next thing he knew, he was grabbing the wall to stabilize himself and the person who threw themself at him. The familiar scent of Dallas filled his nose, and he was confused as to why she was showing up at his door at four in the morning, dressed in what he knew she only slept in. She was sobbing, and soaking wet from the downpour that was occurring outside, and his confusion only grew as to why she was there.

He wrapped one arm tightly around her, using the other to close and lock the door. "Dallas, what's wrong?"

"You're alive!" She tightened her grip around his neck.

He tried to lighten the situation. "That's what's wrong? I'm alive?" He teased.

She pulled back a little, eyes wide, still puffy and red. "NO!" She exclaimed. "That's good!"

"Then what's wrong?" He asked patiently.

She shook her head. "Bad dream. It just…felt really realistic." She started tearing up again. "I'm sorry, Don, I really am. I should have told you when I first started feeling like someone was following me, but it was right around the Truby thing and you were upset about that and I just didn't think that you needed another thing to worry about, especially something so stupid, when there was much bigger stuff going on and…"

She stopped talking when he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "It's fine, Dal. I overreacted. I was mad about work; we had to let somebody go because we didn't have enough evidence, but we all knew he was guilty, and then Lindsay came in and told me that and I was just annoyed you didn't tell me."

"I trust you," She hastened to say, remembering his parting words to her during their fight. "I really do. More than I've trusted anyone I've dated, probably too much, because it scares me." She finished quietly.

Don gave her a small smile. "I know, Dal; it scares me too. I'll be honest; I've never been in a two month relationship where I wasn't planning on breaking up with the girl within the next few weeks."

Dallas bit her lip, looking down. "Me neither,"

He tilted her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. "Dal, I want to know when things are bothering you. If something's making you upset, I want you to tell me. If there's something making you happy, I want you to tell me. If something makes you sad, mad, excited, anxious, _anything_, I want you to tell me. And I know you're not used to people sticking around in your life, but I promise, I'm not goin' anywhere."

"You got shot," Dallas said softly. He must have looked confused, because she continued. "In my dream. You got shot in my dream. When we were in the park. And you just kept bleeding and bleeding and so I took my shirt off to stop the blood but every time I put it there, it would just magically reappear on me." She started crying harder. "And I kept doing it and doing it and you were just on the ground, dying, just staring at me, like why haven't you done something yet," She paused. "It sounds really stupid now, but it really freaked me out," She finished softly.

He pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. "It's not stupid Dal, you're fine. I just told you I want to hear these things, didn't I?" He felt her lips turn up into a slight smile. "You want to go to back to bed now?" She hesitated. "You wanna take a shower first?"

She nodded. "The rain's disgusting."

He laughed. "I'm sure it is." Don led her to the bathroom, allowing her to get in the shower, then threw a pair of his sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt in the bathroom. She emerged shortly after, dressed in the new clothes, the wet ones in a ball on the bathroom floor, and climbed into bed with him.

"This dream really freaked you out, didn't it?" Don asked, wrapping an arm around her, as she tightly gripped onto him. "You're not usually this clingy."

"If you're complaining, I can go back out into the rain and go home," She said, making an attempt to move off him.

"Nope," He pulled her closer. "It's been too long since I've seen you. You're staying here," He kissed her forehead.

"You're just hoping you'll get lucky in the morning," Dallas closed her eyes, a small smile on her face.

Don smirked. "Damn, you know me too well."

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**A/N: Well, if I don't post again before Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving! Drop a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!**


	20. Let's Hurry This Birthday Dinner Up

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Unfortunately, I have finals coming up soon so this will probably be the last update until mid December. Hopefully not, I'll try to push one out when I'm procrastinating!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.**

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**Cucina di Napoli  
Manhattan, New York  
December 19, 2006  
7:10 PM**

"Trust Danny to pick an Italian restaurant for his birthday dinner," Don shook his head, as he pulled Dallas closer to him as the wind picked up slightly.

Dallas shivered. "Looks good," Don pulled open the door and allowed her to step inside. "Smells good too," She grinned.

He rolled his eyes, stopping halfway through to journey up her legs, right up to where her dress was covered by a jacket. "You gonna take that jacket off yet, sweetheart?"

Dallas grinned. "Not til we get to the table. I want everyone to see that we at least made it here, even if you don't let us stay."

He groaned, stepping forward and pulling her against his chest. "You're killing me here princess,"

She kissed him. "Just think of how much fun you'll have taking it off later."

"No moaning over your food tonight then," He bargained. "No matter how good it is, you start moaning over _anything_ and we're outta here."

"Think you'll be able to make it home?" She teased, scanning the restaurant for the other CSI's.

"I didn't say anything about making it home, I just said getting out of here." Dallas grabbed Don's hand and pulled him the direction of where she had seen Stella's curls, stopping abruptly once they reached the table.

"Ok, seriously, this whole sleeping with the brothers of guys I've slept with has got to stop," Dallas said, as Don gently tugged her hand toward the two empty seats between Danny and Stella, across from Ellie and her boy.

Ellie shrugged. "Sorry, I'll try to keep your contact with them to a minimum."

"I think that both Don and I appreciate that," Dallas smiled, shrugging out of her coat, revealing a beautiful red halter dress, tight at the top with a flowy skirt.

Ellie cracked a grin. "I think Don would appreciate something else much more right now."

Don grinned back, slipping in the chair beside Stella. "We've got a deal worked out." He turned to Danny. "So let's hurry this birthday dinner up, yeah?"

Dallas rolled her eyes, passing Danny an envelope. "Happy Birthday, Mess," She kissed his cheek and sat down next to Don. "Bet ya wish Lindsay was here, don't ya?"

"I hate you," Danny mock-glared at her, but she just took it with a grin.

"Funny, she says the same thing!"

Ellie laughed. "It's true, she does,"

"You know, everyone's here now, you might all want to start thinking about what you want to eat," Stella said, her tone very motherly.

Dallas groaned, picking up her menu. "Ah ah," Flack said.

"That was a groan," She defended.

"I'll let it slide,"

Dallas sighed. "Can't we just order one of everything and go family style?"

"I like it," Danny said. "Then I can have everything I want."

Stella shook her head. "Jesus, Danny, you're worse than a five year old on Christmas,"

Mac smiled. "It's a good plan though; let's pick a couple dishes and just send them around the table."

"As long as one of those dishes has a vodka sauce on it, that sounds wonderful to me," Liv said.

Dallas caught a moan in her throat before she let it out. "Ohh vodka sauce," She said, ignoring Flack's smirk.

Don casually threw his right arm around her chair and leaned over toward her. He muttered., "Car's right out front," She bit back a smile.

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**Dallas's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
December 19, 2006  
10:20 PM**

"Hey Linds, what's up?" Dallas quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure Danny hadn't followed her before looking back at her laptop to see Lindsay's face smiling back at her.

"Nothing much," Lindsay shrugged. "How was dinner? I'm bummed I wasn't there."

"Oh, awesome," Dallas smiled. "Food was delicious. We'll go sometime when you get back."

Lindsay grinned. "Good, now I'm excited."

Dallas laughed. "Alright, well everyone's in the other room. Want me to take you in to say hi?"

Lindsay shrugged. "If you want. I'm assuming the sooner I talk to them, the sooner they leave, the sooner you get out of that dress."

Dallas unplugged the computer and held it in her hands, starting to walk toward the living room, where everyone else was. "I doubt it. I practically tortured poor Don at dinner tonight so I'm sure he's gonna take his sweet time to get back at me."

"Really didn't need to know that," Lindsay said, as Dallas stepped into the living room and turned the computer toward everyone. "Hi guys!"

"LINDSAY!" A chorus of voices shouted back and Lindsay lauaghed.

"Nice to see you guys too," She paused. "Where's Danny?" Dallas turned the screen a little to better focus on Danny. "Oh, hi! Happy Birthday, again. Your present is in the mail, I promise."

Danny waved her off with a wide grin. "It's all good Montana, I know you wouldn't forget about me."

"Little does he know that's the real reason she's home right now," Ellie whispered loudly to Don and Stella.

"Very funny, Ellie," Danny stuck his tongue out at her. Lindsay laughed, chatting more with everyone about dinner and work for a little, before saying she had to go.

"You guys should all probably head home," She said, looking at the clock next to her. "Most of you, at least, have work tomorrow."

"She's right," Mac said, giving stern looks to Hawkes and Danny. "Some of you even have early shifts."

"Besides," Lindsay said with a grin. "Don hasn't taken his eyes off of Dallas's dress since we've started talking. Let's give him a break, shall we?"

"Thank you Lindsay," Don stood up, pointing toward the door, as Lindsay laughed and signed off. "Door's that way. See you all later."

Exchanging grumbles, hugs, and handshakes, the group all headed for the door, including Dallas and Don, who were saying bye to their friends. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Don grabbed Dallas by her waist, pulling her close, before she could walk out the door.

"Out," She feigned innocence. "You said see you _all_ later. I was in the room, I guess I'll be seeing you later,"

"It's your apartment," He pressed his lips to hers, offering a sweet and tender kiss. "Don't think you should just leave."

She looped her arms around his neck. In her heels, she didn't even need to push herself up to meet his lips. "So you're saying I'm stuck here?" She deepened the kiss.

"That is…exactly what I'm saying," His hand skillfully moved to the zipper on the back of her dress, slowly sliding it down.

"Guess that's good," Dallas said, knowing she was about to get some power back. "Cause I'm not wearing any underwear,"

Don pulled back, looking at her in disbelief. "That entire dinner you didn't have _any_ underwear on." Dallas shook her head, smirking up at him. "You're gonna be the death of me,"

"But what a way to go," She responded, stepping out of her unzippered dress and working on his tie, as his lips brushed behind her ear. "Don't torture," She moaned, tilting her head slightly as she threw his tie on the ground and moved her fingers to the buttons of his shirt.

But when his lips didn't move back to her mouth, she knew it was going to be a long night.

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**Ellie's Apartment  
Manhattan, New York  
December 19, 2006  
10:26 PM**

As soon as the elevator doors slid open, Ellie jumped out, causing Adam to laugh as he casually stepped out after her. "Elevators really aren't your thing, are they?"

Ellie shuddered. "No, they creep me out." She led the way down the hallway toward her apartment, so he could pick up the movie he left there. "I don't really like small, enclosed spaces, especially ones that move, and are ridiculously heavy and held up by string,"

Adam laughed. "Ellie, the cables that hold elevators up are hardly _string_. If it wasn't safe, they wouldn't let people get on them."

She stuck her tongue out at him as she stuck the key in the door. "How'd you guess I was afraid of elevators?"

He snorted, following her into the apartment. "Come on, Ell, it was pretty obvious. Nobody _jumps _out of an elevator if they're not terrified of them."

She leaned her back against the wall. "I need to date someone as observant as you," He perked up, analyzing her words. "Seriously, somebody nice, and smart, and observant. Who actually cares about me. Somebody who's willing to say…"

He cut her off as he came up next to her. "I'm the one,"

"Exactly!" Ellie cried.

"NO!" He banged his head against the wall before taking her hands and pulling her toward him. "I'm the one for you. Me, right here, right now."

"Adam,wha…" Ellie looked into his eyes. "I…"

"I kissed you a month ago," He admitted, looking away, finally easing the guilt from his drunken night. "After Truby. I remember that," He paused. "I'm sure you do too,"

She nodded breathlessly. "Why—why did you say you didn't remember…if you do?"

He shrugged, avoiding her eyes. "Thought you weren't into me. Didn't want to ruin our friendship because of a crush I had on you."

Ellie couldn't help it; she burst into uncontrollable laughter. "I—I'm sorry," She managed to get out.

Adam stepped away, avoiding her eyes. "Yeah, it's ok, I'll just go, and we can pretend this never happened tomorrow and…" He started walking toward the door. "Bye,"

"NO!" She grabbed his arm, sobering up, but still grinning. "Adam, please don't go. I'm not laughing at you. It's just—I've had a crush on you too,"

"Really?" Adam smiled at her, looking into her eyes.

She nodded. "Yeah, I just didn't want to say anything after you kissed me because I thought _you_ weren't into _me_,"

He scoffed. "Who could ever _not_ be into you?"

Ellie blushed, letting go of his arm. "We're so stupid."

Adam shrugged, taking on of her hands and squeezing it gently. "Well let's not waste any more time,"

Ellie giggled, stepping closer to him. "Because then we'd be _really_ stupid."

Adam brushed his free hand over her cheek, leaning in closer. "So let's try this again,"

"I think I could be persuaded to do that," Ellie said, allowing him to brush his lips against hers. Now this was contentment.

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**A/N: So what did we think?**


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